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Leaking among intimate partner homicide perpetrators. A systematic review.

Tanita Rumpf, Psychologische Hochschule Berlin; Stefanie Horn, Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei; Catharina Vogt, Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei; Kristin Göbel, Psychologische Hochschule Berlin; Thomas Görgen, Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei; Kim-Marie Zibulski, Polizeipräsidium Ravensburg; Vanessa Uttenweiler, Polizeipräsidium Ravensburg; Rebecca Bondü, Psychologische Hochschule Berlin

Worldwide, one in seven homicides occurred between intimate partners. Given these high prevalence rates, there is a need to improve its risk assessment and prevention. Previous research has shown that there is no consistent offender profile for perpetrators of intimate parter homicides (IPH), hampering the use of conventional risk factors for preventive purposes. Leaking, however, has proven to be an important warning sign of severe violent offenses in areas in which perpetrators do not have a homogenous risk profile. Leaking comprises all statements, behavior, or actions expressing the perpetrator's thoughts, fantasies, ideas, interests, feelings, intentions, plans, or positive evaluations of a violent act or previous offenses prior to the own attack that can be observed by third parties and allow for an intervention. Up to now, leaking has merely been systematically examined in homicidal offenses in the public sphere. But the concept might also be applicable to IPH, given that periods of planning or other offense-related behavior have also been observed in this context. A systematic literature review will identify the current state of research on leaking prior to IPH. A predefined search strategy will be applied to eight databases. Eligible documents published between 1999 and 2022, written in English or German will be analyzed. Preliminary results on frequency, forms, media, and recipients of leaking will be presented along with practical implications.

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