his life not due to guilt, but instead due to his perceived helplessness and dependency. Defense mechanisms Links have also been established between violence in childhood and likelihood of uxoricide occurring. Psychodynamic researchers argue that being the victim of abuse in childhood leads to being a perpetrator of domestic abuse in adulthood via the route of defence mechanisms – in this case, violence is an unconscious defensive adaption to childhood trauma and other adverse events. Other psychodynamic researchers have reported that Thematic Apperception Tests reveal significant trends of rejection by a mother or wife in men who commit uxoricide. Psychoanalytic dream interpretation has also argued that unconscious conflict manifests into violent outbursts. For example, in one instance one man had experienced and recorded over 200 distressing, mostly violent dreams prior to murdering his wife. Risk factors In slightly more than two-thirds of US spousal homicides, a verbal disagreement escalated to homicide. Marital status In two studies conducted in Canada and Britain, cohabiting women were found at greater risk of domestic violence and uxoricide than married women. Research has found that cohabiting women are nine times more likely to be killed by their intimate partner than married women. A number of possible reasons for this finding have been studied. Cohabiting women are more likely to be younger, have a lower level of education and are more likely to bring children from a previous relationship into their home with their new intimate partner. In addition to this heightened risk to a mother with stepchildren, the genetically unrelated stepfather also poses a risk to the child; research has shown that children are at much greater risk of violence and filicide (murder of a child) from stepfathers compared to a genetic father. This may be because investment from a stepfather reduces reproductive benefits. Research has found that the presence of stepchildren can significantly increase the risk of uxoricide for women. A large number of filicides are accompanied by uxoricide and suicide. Additionally, cohabiting relationships have higher separation rates and males in these types of relationships may not feel in control of their intimate partners and may feel threatened by male sexual competitors. Research has found that a large proportion of uxoricide cases follow on from the male believing that his female intimate partner has been unfaithful or the female partner attempting to end the relationship. Research has shown that females often experience increased abuse