Expert offers theory on domestic abuse

DANVERS ? The question of why men kill women has nagged criminologists and social scientists for years, often without producing any answers.David Adams, author of a new book, “Why Do They Kill? Men Who Murder Their Intimate Partners,” offered his theories on the subject Wednesday before an audience of mostly police and probation officers, victim advocates and domestic abuse counselors at the Sheraton Ferncroft Resort.Adams, co-director of Cambridge-based Emerge, the first counseling program in the U.S. for men who abuse women, listed five types of killers in the realm of domestic homicides: jealous lover or spouse, substance abuser, depressed individual, the materially-motivated, and career criminal.Of all domestic slayings, jealousy tops the list of reasons, being responsible for 65-90 percent of the murders. In most cases involving jealousy, the murder is preceded by weeks or months of increased monitoring and surveillance. Considering this, Adams takes issue with typical media reports that characterize domestic homicides fueled by jealousy as “crimes of passion.”A crime of passion would more likely occur on impulse, not after pre-meditation and surveillance of the victim, he said.Adams told a poignant story of a woman health aide and her custodian spouse who met while working at a nursing home. Soon after, the man asked the woman to quit her job, stay at home and raise their children. The woman agreed, with the stipulation she would return to work and pursue a nursing career path once the two children reached school age.According to Adams, the man was insanely jealous of his wife’s male co-workers. Since the man also worked at a seasonal seafood shack, during the day he would drive past the nursing home to spy on his wife. One day, he spotted his wife getting into a car with a strange man. Convinced it was her lover, he threatened to kill them both, not realizing the man was merely a fellow employee along on a coffee run.Later that day, the jealous spouse piled his wife’s belongings on the front lawn and torched them as their 5-year-old son looked on. The woman obtained a restraining order. The spouse was charged with arson, but he made bail and was quickly back on the street. He fatally stabbed the woman shortly thereafter.The tragic tale was one of many offered by Adams, who for 30 years has led groups for men convicted of battering, as well as parenting education classes for fathers. The latter is keenly intertwined with the problem of domestic violence because studies show that men verbally or emotionally abused by their fathers tend to become batterers.”Killers are often closer to their mothers, but they act like their fathers,” said Adams. “Children relate to the more powerful parent.”Forty-eight percent of the men who commit domestic homicide were abused by their fathers, as were 87 percent of the victims, according to Adams, who has conducted numerous surveys. Fifty-two percent of the killers claimed they were frequently criticized by their father, while 29 percent recalled their mother being harshly critical.By contrast, only six percent of the killers claimed abuse by their mother.Adams said the number of domestic murders by shooting in Massachusetts was lower than the national average, a factor he attributed to the state’s restrictive gun laws. Stabbings were higher. To stress that point, Adams recalled the case of a Massachusetts man who drove to Maine, bought an antique Civil War-era firearm, and used it to kill his spouse. Since the gun was an antique, it wasn’t considered a weapon purchase, he said.”Most of the information we hear on domestic violence is common sense, or ought to be. The road map is clear for some individuals, which is why law enforcement and domestic abuse agencies have to talk to each other. If we do that, we can save lives,” said Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, who organized the presentation. “It’s a problem in every community, not just the poor ones. We need to get the infor