Social and cultural meanings of legal responses to homicide among men: Masculine honour, sexual advances and accidents
| DOI | 10.1177/0004865812456854 |
| Published date | 01 December 2012 |
| Author | Stephen Tomsen,Thomas Crofts |
| Date | 01 December 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Australian & New Zealand
Journal of Criminology
45(3) 423–437
!The Author(s) 2012
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DOI: 10.1177/0004865812456854
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Article
Social and cultural meanings
of legal responses to homicide
among men: Masculine honour,
sexual advances and accidents
Stephen Tomsen
University of Western Sydney, Australia
Thomas Crofts
University of Sydney, Australia
Abstract
This paper discusses Australian controversies over defences and excuses to homicide that
serve partly to normalise violence in fatal conflicts between men. The ‘homosexual advance
defence’ (HAD), describes a specific use of the provocation plea to seek a reduction of
murder charges to a finding of manslaughter in cases of alleged male on male sexual advance.
Successful uses of HAD to support claims of provocation have reflected legal acceptance of
the alleged affront to masculine honour that such an advance can comprise. Likewise, the
excuse of ‘accident’ has become a matter of growing debate when used to counter homicide
charges arising from petty disputes or unprovoked assaults between men. The ineffective
outcome of debate and the extent of this violence mirrors official resignation about this
phenomenon and casts doubt on the progression of ‘civilising’ trends against social brutality.
Anti-violence activists and reformers have mobilised against the use of HAD and the excuse
of accident with mixed success. Reform of provocation law to abolish HAD is still incomplete,
and the accident excuse continues to impact on cases involving alcohol-related violence
among men. Anti-homosexual attacks and other fatal male on male conflicts have been
viewed as unrelated forms of crime, yet there is a symmetry between HAD-related and
‘accidental’ killings that arise in social scenarios where sudden rage in reply to insults to
male honour is a common social expectation.
Keywords
criminal law, homicide, masculinity, victims, violence
Corresponding author:
Professor Stephen Tomsen, Institute for Culture and Society, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797,
Penrith NSW 2751, Australia.
Email: s.tomsen@uws.edu.au
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