Visualizing Homicide: A Research Note

This paper provides some examples of the utility of graphical methods in analyzing data. While such methods are not expected to supplant standard statistical techniques, they can help the researcher in understanding characteristics of the process in ways that cannot be replicated using the standard methods.     

COUNTING CRIME BOOMS AMONG NATIONS: EVIDENCE FOR HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION RATES, 1956 TO 1998*

Constructionists argue that crime booms are rare, modernizationalists predict that booms have been limited to industrializing nations, and globalizationalists claim that booms are universal among nations since World War II. We define crime booms as rates that increase rapidly and exhibit a positive sustained change in direction and use econometric methods to test for booms with homicide victimization rates for 34 nations, 1956 to 1998. Twelve nations satisfied our criteria for booms—too many to support constructionists, but too few to support globalizationalists. In support of modernizationalists, 70% of industrializing nations qualified as having booms, but fewer than 21% of industrialized nations did. Future research should explain industrializing nations that do not experience booms and industrialized nations that do.     

Customary Homicides in Diyarbakir Province

This study presents an analysis of the causes of so‐called honor killings in the context of “customary homicide” and a discussion of preventive measures. Finalized case files of customary homicide between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2012 were retrospectively examined in Diyarbakir Province, Turkey. Of a total of 28 case victims, 17 (60.7%) were females and 11 (39.3%) were males. All perpetrators were male. There was a significant difference between male and female victims in terms of economic independence (p = 0.000). A direct blood relationship or relationship by marriage (such as brother‐in‐law) was found to have a significant association with the gender of the victim (p < 0.001). Multilevel educational activities targeting a transformation of the perception of women by society, replacement of patriarchal models with more modern attitudes, and encouragement of individuality may represent effective strategies that may help reduce the number of customary homicide, which represents a multifaceted problem.     

Maternal Filicide in Turkey

Filicide occurs in every socioeconomic stratum around the world. This study was conducted to evaluate motives, psychopathological aspects, and socio-demographic factors of 74 filicide cases of women in Turkey. Mean age of mothers, most of whom committed infanticide, was 26 years, and breakdown of criminal offenses are as follows: “to get rid of unwanted babies” (24.3%), “acute psychotic-type filicide” (21.6%), “fatal child abuse and neglect” (17.6%), “to get revenge” (12.2%), “protect the lonely child from the harm and badness after suicide” (10.8%), and “pity” (9.5%) motives. Results showed that maternal filicide cannot be reduced to only mental instability or environmental factors and indicates deficiencies in the capacity of the mothers' role in connecting with their child and with parenting skills. Finally, with regard to defendants' motives, similar factors that contribute to committing maternal filicide should be considered while making an assessment of the data and determining employee risk groups.     

Suicidal or Homicidal Sharp Force Injuries? A Review and Critical Analysis of the Heterogeneity in the Forensic Literature

The differential diagnosis between self-inflicted and nonself-inflicted, suicidal and homicidal, injuries is difficult or impossible in many cases and, above all, cannot be made on the basis of information obtained solely from the autopsy or the medicolegal clinical examination. The purpose of this study is to analyze the literature on suicidal and homicidal sharp force injuries and identify the relevant parameters that may help differentiate between suicidal and homicidal deaths. To achieve this goal, a review of 595 potentially relevant articles was performed. After excluding the nonrelevant papers by screening the titles, all abstracts were reviewed, and articles meeting the inclusion criteria underwent a full-text review. The following parameters were compiled into a table: number of cases, localization of the injuries, and number of injuries. The data were statistically analyzed and compared with those available in the forensic literature. On the basis of the heterogeneity of data revealed by the present review, a simple and short checklist of the parameters that should be included when reporting suicides and homicides by sharp force has been proposed.     

命案发案特点与侦破对策

提高命案侦破能力,实现"命案必破"的奋斗目标,是当前公安机关的一个重大任务。目前,在故意杀人等严重刑事案件中,犯罪分子作案手段和方法出现了新特点、新趋势。公安机关应根据新变化,把握新特点,有针对性地采取相应措施,不断提高侦破命案能力,努力实现"命案必破"。     

Forensic odontology lessons: multishooting incident at Port Arthur, Tasmania

On Sunday 28 April 1996 a lone gunman killed and injured many people at the historic penal settlement ruins at Port Arthur in South Eastern Tasmania, Australia. Thirty-two victims were shot dead and 19 were injured in a short time inside a cafe and along the roadway leading to the site entrance. The gunman then took one hostage to a nearby guest house which was occupied by a married couple. Police stood siege during the night. Early the next day the cottage began to burn and a man suspected to be the gunman eventually ran unarmed from the building with his clothes alight and was arrested. The house burned to the ground. Three bodies were later located in the burnt ruins.Forensic odontology played a role in the retrieval of evidence and identification of the incinerated victims. Lack of antemortem dental records for one victim necessitated the reliance on a single CT scan radiograph for matching with the remains. Fire scene procedures, evidence collection and other issues were reviewed.The overwhelming scale of this tragedy and its adverse effects on the Tasmanian community, especially the victims’ families and survivors, cannot be overestimated. While acknowledging this, it is important that lessons are learnt from tragedies such as these. This paper is presented with a view to assisting forensic odontologists in the investigation of complex incidents.     

合并自杀的凶杀研究

合并自杀的凶杀发生率较低,但经常导致家庭成员伤亡,甚至导致家庭灭绝;同时其与许多病态、家庭暴力和严重社会破坏相关。通过回顾相关研究,本文首先简要介绍合并自杀的凶杀的概念演化及其发生率,然后重点介绍其犯罪学特征、类型及其与精神障碍关系,最后结合司法鉴定实践指出今后的研究方向。     

LOCATING THE VANGUARD IN RISING AND FALLING HOMICIDE RATES ACROSS U.S. CITIES*

This research examines trends in U.S. homicide rates at the city level during the so‐called homicide epidemic in the latter decades of the 20th century. Using spline regression techniques to locate structural breaks in city‐level time series, we model the true trends of homicide rates to identify those cities that exhibited a meaningful boom and bust cycle. We then use Tobit regressions for all cities at risk of experiencing a cycle to estimate unbiased effects of theoretically important predictors on the timing of the phase changes. Our findings reveal that larger cities were more likely to experience an epidemic‐like pattern, and that densely populated cities characterized by high levels of deprivation tended to exhibit the rise and fall in homicide rates earlier than other cities.     

Cold floor effects on homicide

The cold floor pattern (a lack of homicides on days with extremely cold temperatures that was found by Cheatwood in Baltimore) is to be expected by chance. Under a model in which the number of homicides and the maximum temperature are independent, the probability that a day will fall below the cold floor is small. The Baltimore data do not support a model in which extremely cold weather suppresses human aggression.