When Kin Become Killers: Bride Price Violence and Gendered Power in China

Two research questions guide this study: To what extent does kinship influence the severity of violence in bride price-related family violence? Then, are there structured gender differences in such violence?

Guided by family systems theory and feminist perspectives, 567 bride price–related criminal cases from China Judgements Online were analyzed. Chi-square test and logistic regression models were employed in this study to test hypotheses.

Of the 567 cases, 78.66% (N = 446) involved intentional injury and 21.34% (N = 121) involved intentional homicide. Offenders were overwhelmingly male (88.87%), yet gender was not significantly associated with violence severity in either bivariate or multivariate analyses. Kin involvement was common, with relatives acting as offenders in 44.70% of cases, and was significantly associated with lower odds of homicide. Violence occurring during marriage was associated with higher odds of homicide in baseline models, with post-divorce cases showing a similar upward trend. However, these associations were attenuated once kin involvement was included in the full model. Offenders affiliated with the male partner’s faction initially exhibited higher lethality, though this effect was no longer significant after accounting for kin-offender dynamics.

By integrating family systems theory and feminist perspectives, this study advances understanding of the relational and structural factors underpinning violence severity in bride price.