Emerging Trends and Socio-Psychological Consequences of Intra-Family and Intimate Homicide in Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

Homicide occurring within familial and intimate relationships represents a significant public health, criminological, and forensic psychiatric concern because it violates fundamental expectations of trust, protection, and social cohesion. Despite increasing public concern in northern Nigeria, systematic forensic psychiatric analysis of intra-family and intimate homicide remains limited. This study examines emerging trends and socio-psychological consequences of familial and intimate homicide in Kano State, Nigeria, using an integrated ecological and stress-vulnerability framework. Drawing on forensic psychiatric theory and socio-ecological models of violence, the study explores how individual vulnerabilities, relational conflict, socioeconomic pressures, and broader cultural influences interact in the production of lethal violence within intimate and family settings. The study situates recent cases of filicide, intimate partner homicide, amicicide, and extended family killings within the context of poverty, urbanization, social isolation, gendered power relations, and limited access to mental health and psychosocial support services. Particular attention is given to the psychosocial trajectories preceding homicide, including impaired impulse control, chronic interpersonal stress, coercive dynamics, and cumulative emotional strain. The study also examines the potential role of media representations of violence, including Kannywood and international cinematic narratives, in shaping cognitive scripts surrounding jealousy, revenge, honor, and retaliatory violence. Findings suggest that familial and intimate homicide in Kano State is rarely attributable to a single factor; rather, it emerges through the interaction of psychological vulnerability and cumulative social stressors operating across multiple ecological levels. The consequences extend beyond immediate victims and perpetrators, generating profound psychological trauma, social stigma, family disintegration, and community insecurity. The study highlights the need for culturally sensitive forensic psychiatric interventions, improved mental health services, early risk identification, and strengthened community-based prevention mechanisms. By contextualizing intimate and family homicide within both global forensic psychiatric scholarship and local sociocultural realities, the study contributes to the development of evidence-informed violence prevention strategies in low- and middle-income settings.