MASCULINITY AND CHILD HOMICIDE

In this article masculinity and violence are explored through all exam ination of case case studies of child homicides committed by men in Vi ctoria, Australia between 1985 and 1994. The findings reveal a diversi ty of violent scenarios and a complexity in masculinity and ifs relati onship to violence. They challenge the adequacy of universalistic repr esentations of male violence as either an instrumental act, a means of accomplishing masculinity, or as an unpremenditated emotional act of rage and anger in response to a threat. In particular, the scenarios r eveal both the complex and sometimes contradictory expectations of mas culinities and the ways in which they are achieved differently in diff erent situations.