Aging and homicide rates

There are no published studies concerning the effect of mortality rate on the rate of homicide by habitually violent offenders. On the basis of nation-wide statistics in Finland, the frequency of homicide is 61% lower among 50-year old males than among 30-year old males. However, when the 4.9-fold mortality of habitually violent offenders is taken into account, the homicide rate is only 43% lower among 50-year old males than among 30-year old males. This is an important issue in forensic psychiatry and that requires further attention, as age is used a predictive factor when assessing the risk of violent behavior.     

Black homicide in a midsize southern city, 1980–1989

This study examined homicides from 1980–1989 in a midsize southern city (Chattanooga, Tennessee). More specifically, the study examined the homicide rate as it related to age, gender, and race of both the victim and offender, as well as the type of weapon used.     

Maintaining racial inequality through crime control: mass incarceration and residential segregation

The use of the prison system to incarcerate has been one of the state’s primary control mechanisms since the early 1970s, immediately following many civil rights changes. A system of mass incarceration has entailed wide and continuous racial disparities which maintain inequality across social institutions, such as the economy and political participation – the institutions in which the civil rights movement sought to secure equality. This analysis examines the association between disparate crime control and racial residential segregation, another major social institution targeted by the civil rights movement. Links to theoretical discussions on racial formation, law and crime control, and residential segregation to advance our understanding of inequalities and the reciprocal relationships between these institutionalized processes are presented.     

Erotomania, triangulation, and homicide

A case of homicide by a 29-year-old male with erotomanic delusional disorder and various personality disorders is reported. Following a month of pursuit of a female stranger with whom he had briefly conversed in a local bar, he assaulted an automotive plant where she worked, delusionally believing that she was at imminent risk and needed to be rescued. One plant manager was killed and two police officers were wounded. The case illustrates the phenomenon of triangulation, where rage toward the rejecting object is displaced onto a third party, which is then perceived as impeding access to the victim and may be at risk for violent assault.     

Aggression homicide and rejection homicide: a communicative classification of homicide

Based on a 10-year sample of homicides (n = 50), the hypothesis was tested that it is possible to differentiate between aggression and rejection homicide. The aggression homicide results from the offender/victim relationship, which is no longer accepted for some reason. In contrast, in the rejection homicide the offender radically strives for a goal which can only be reached if the victim is eliminated. Based on forensic-psychiatric expert opinions (n = 50), the case analyses yielded 31 aggression homicides and 18 rejection homicides, one case could not be classified. Aggression homicides differed significantly from the rejection homicides with regard to their main motives. Hate in quarrel (n = 8), violent occupation of the victim (n = 7), delusions (n = 5), revenge (n = 3), self-defence (n = 2), and jealousy (n = 1) characterized the aggression homicides, whereas rejection homicides were dominated by economic motives (n = 14). Two offenders intended to get rid of the victim and one offender wanted to rescue a third person. From a forensic-psychiatric point of view, the pertinent statistical data (social data, diagnosis, criminal responsibility) are reported and the significance of the differentiation between aggression homicide and rejection homicide for medico-legal or criminological case profiling and for the prognosis of the risk potential is discussed.     

Twenty years of homicide and robbery in Chicago: The impact of the city's changing racial and age composition

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) arrest and offense data for Chicago for 1960 to 1980 and population data from the 1960, 1970, and 1980 censuses are used to assess the extent to which demographic changes help explain trends in the city's homicide and robbery arrests. The results indicate that a changing racial composition contributed to changes in the age composition of Chicago's population as well as to changes in the homicide rate. Age-specific analysis by race and gender suggests that as much as 24% of the total increase in homicide arrests and 45% of the increase in robbery arrests (from 1962 to 1980) can be attributed to an increase in the number of nonwhite men in the population. Increasedrates of arrest of nonwhite men appear to account for large parts of the increases in homicide and robbery arrests, with increased rates for white men and nonwhite women also accounting for some of these increases. The paper closes with a discussion of the issues raised by these trends for Chicago and other urban areas.Revision of a paper presented at the 1984 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Cincinnati.     

Armed Americans: The impact of firearm availability on national homicide rates

This study examines the relationship between firearm availability and national homicide rates. The theoretical and empirical literatures are reviewed, and a cross-national two-stage least squares regression analysis is described. The relationship between a circa 1990 measure of firearm availability and the average 1990–1994 homicide rate is examined across 36 countries. Two-stage least squares regression, which controls for homicide's effect on firearm availability in addition to a number of other confounding factors, reveals a statistically significant positive effect of firearm availability on national homicide rates. The magnitude of the association is considerable. The observed relationship is found to be insensitive to sample composition. Results also indicate that homicide rates do not influence levels of firearm availability. The limitations of the study and avenues for future research are discussed.     

The consumer racial profiling experiences of Black students at historically Black colleges and universities: An exploratory study

This article examines consumer racial profiling among Black students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Consumer Racial Profiling (CRP) is when store employees target a shopper or shoppers for discriminatory treatment based on their race or ethnicity. The research revealed that students have been exposed to a variety of CRP practices (e.g., being followed around, etc.). Even though they have been victims of CRP, many of the students did not report doing anything about it. Multivariate analyses were conducted to determine the most significant predictors of both having reported being a victim of CRP and also reporting the incident. The article concludes arguing that victims of CRP must report the incidents—if they are to be minimized, or in the best-case scenario, eliminated. In addition, the authors argue that criminologists should pay more attention to both CRP and the experiences and views of students at HBCUs.     

Cross-national comparison of homicide: Age/sex-adjusted rates using the 1980 U.S. homicide experience as a standard

Cross-sectional studies of crime have typically relied on crude crime rates when making comparisons between countries. Crude rates control for population size but implicitly assume that all members of the population are equally at risk. Empirical studies have shown that, cross-nationally, risk varies by age and sex. Standardization of crime rates removes the confounding effects of variable age and sex population distributions. Since age/sex-specific crime rates are generally unavailable for many countries, the method of indirect standardization is the most desirable technique. Age/sex-adjusted homicide rates for 76 countries are presented, and two comparative measures are suggested. It is shown that while the United States has a higher homicide rate than all but 15 countries; in most cases, the magnitude of the difference, not controlling for age/sex differences, is overestimated. Crude rates underestimate differences between the United States and countries with higher rates of homicide.     

The relationship between urbanisation and cross-national homicide rates: robustness across multiple estimation methods

Urbanisation has generally been found to be a non-significant predictor of homicide rates in cross-national studies. Despite this, there is strong theoretical support for the presence of a positive association between the two. The present study analyses data for up to 57 nations for the period 1993–2005 and examines the relationship between urbanisation and homicide using pooled ordinary least squares, feasible generalised least squares, panel-corrected standard errors, fixed-effects, and random-effects estimation. The results show that urbanisation is one of the strongest predictors of homicide in the cross-national context. This is consistent with the expected relationship according to modernisation theory and suggests that rapidly urbanising nations should be concerned with the unintended consequences of urbanisation.     

The impact of population heterogeneity and income inequality on homicide rates: a cross-national assessment

The current research produces regression models with sample sizes from 127 to 131 by initially employing a data set of 170 nations. The current study finds that ethnic heterogeneity and linguistic heterogeneity lead to higher homicide rates. However, religious heterogeneity has no impact on homicide rates. The present article also tests an interaction effect between population heterogeneity and income inequality. Unlike J. R. Blau and Blau (1982) and Avision and Loring (1986) proposition, the interaction term is not related to national homicide rates. The current study also discusses the theoretical implications of those findings.     

Toward a better understanding of racial and ethnic disparities in search and seizure rates

Recent studies demonstrated a consistent research finding that compared to Caucasian motorists, Black and Hispanic motorists were significantly more likely to be subjected to personal and/or vehicle searches during traffic stops, but significantly less likely to be found in possession of contraband. Explanations for these findings were typically based on speculation regarding officers' racial animus, bias, and discrimination. Unfortunately, very little is truly known about the reasons for these disparate patterns in police behavior. This article presents an alternative explanation for the reoccurring findings of racial/ethnic disparities in searches and seizures, based on research findings regarding the accuracy of clues of deception and suspicious behavior taught to officers through highway criminal interdiction training. These research findings are used to develop a hypothesis that could account for the patterns of racial/ethnic disparities in search rates. The implications for future research and policing policies based on this hypothesis are discussed.     

Race, gender, and the newsworthiness of homicide incidents

This study examined the criteria news media use to evaluate the newsworthiness of homicide incidents occurring between the years of 1997 to 2005. By examining how particular race, gender, and race/gender intersections of offender-victim combinations affect news coverage decision-making, this study attempted to identify the most important criteria of newsworthiness. This article contributes to the growing body of newsworthiness of crime research by examining how cultural typification of victims and offenders affects news media coverage of homicides in Newark, New Jersey, a unique research location in which Blacks make up the majority of the population and Hispanics are the dominant population minority. The results provide partial support for Lundman's (2003) conclusion that cultural typification based on race and gender is an important criterion of newsworthiness.     

The Effects of Multiple Dimensions of Residential Segregation on Black and Hispanic Homicide Victimization

Past research examining the association between residential segregation and homicide victimization has often considered only one dimension of segregation, and the literature that does use a multidimensional approach has not presented a uniform set of findings. The majority of the studies have focused on the experiences of Blacks, while overlooking the possibility that the differences between the structure of Black and Hispanic communities may alter the conclusions for Hispanics. In this study, we argue that in order to understand the mechanisms underlying the effects of segregation on homicide, we need to understand the multidimensional structure of Black and Hispanic segregation, and examine whether the relationship between segregation and homicide differs for Blacks and Hispanics. Using 2000 census data and homicide data from the National Vital Statistics System (1999–2001) for U.S. metropolitan areas, we identify two empirically distinct superdimensions of segregation (group separateness and centralized concentration), both of which have a substantial positive and statistically significant impact on homicide victimization for both Blacks and Hispanics.     

Stalking,homicide, and catathymic process: a case study

Despite the proliferation of research on various aspects of stalking, there has been relatively little study of stalkers who commit homicide. In this article, a man who stalked and killed a casual acquaintance is reported. He developed an idea to kill her that, at first, seemed ego-alien and unreal but eventually became fixed and was accompanied by a mounting inner pressure to act. The concept of catathymic process--a change in thinking whereby the offender comes to believe that he can resolve his inner conflict by committing an act of extreme violence against someone to whom he feels emotionally bonded--is of particular help in understanding this case, as well as similar cases of stalking that culminate in homicide.     

On terror, drugs and racial profiling

We show that for racial profiling (defined as policy rules that employ statistical discrimination based on racial attributes) to be efficient in fighting ordinary crime, it needs to focus on the racial composition of marginal offenders. Efficiency thus may counter-intuitively call for targeting the group with the lower offending rates. In the context of terror, however, it has to be based primarily on differences in offending rates across racial population groups (group-wise averages). We demonstrate that, assuming correlation between race and crime, racial profiling would nearly always be efficient. Finally, we discuss equity considerations and suggest that if awarding compensation is perceived to be a viable policy option, it should be paid on an ex ante basis.     

Celebrity stalking, homicide, and suicide: a psychological autopsy

Despite the high-profile nature of many celebrity stalking cases, little is known about the offenders and even less is known about those who kill their celebrity victims. The case of an obsessed fan who attempted to kill a rock star and then committed suicide is presented. By analyzing his detailed diary, both insight into the motivational dynamics of this type of stalker and delineation of several warning signs, which help differentiate an enthusiastic fan from one who harbors a potentially dangerous obsession, is gained.     

Gender equity, traditional masculine culture, and female homicide victimization

Several prior studies of gender equity and female violent victimization showed a positive relationship between the two, with some scholars defining this as a backlash effect due to increasing gender equity in the context of conservative gender role expectations. This assertion was tested here under a more general set of theories about real and perceived threats to White male dominance in the United States that suggested that the positive relationship between gender equity and female victimization was conditioned by the strength of traditional masculine culture. Using cross-sectional data and employing a commonly tested baseline model to control for other structural covariates of homicide rates, variables were introduced to represent gender income equity and different components of traditional masculine culture. Results confirmed a positive cross-sectional relationship between gender income equality and White non-Hispanic female homicide victimization rates, but did not show the expected interaction effects, leading the authors to conclude that other structural or cultural factors were the source of the positive relationship.     

Temporal regularities in homicide: Cycles,seasons, and autoregression

It has long been assumed that there exists a relationship between crime (including homicide) and season. After discussing three analytic approaches to this problem (looking for seasonality, a general autoregressive process, and cycles), we review the literature and show that confusing and conflicting findings have been reported about the temporal regularities of homicide. Employing monthly data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports (1976–1989), we find evidence for seasonality, autoregression, and cyclicality of homicide. Our modeling approaches clarify the previous conflicting research; implications for theory and future research are discussed.The data utilized in this study were made available by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. The data originally were collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Neither the collector of the original data nor the Consortium bears any responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here. The authors contributed equally to this article.