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PubMedDate not supplied

Homicide against women in the workplace.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the nature and magnitude of violence against women in the workplace. METHOD: Data from the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities surveillance system were analyzed for the 13-year period, 1980 to 1992. Employment information was coded from industry and occupation narratives taken from the death certificates. Rates were calculated using annual average employment data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. RESULTS: From 1980 to 1992, 2,001 women and 7,935 men were victims of work-related homicides, for rates of 0.32 and 1.01 per 100,000 female and male workers, respectively. The majority of female homicide victims were employed in two industries-retail trade (46%) and services (22%). The highest risk industry was grocery stores (1.74 per 100,000 workers), followed by eating and drinking establishments, hotels and motels, and justice and public order. CONCLUSIONS: The findings presented here are consistent with previous research indicating that homicide is the leading cause of occupational injury death for women, but that women are at lower risk than their male counterparts. Homicide played a major role in sales and service, sectors that have increased over the last several decades and in which future growth is predicted. Feasible and effective prevention strategies to reduce the risk of work-related homicides must be developed and implemented.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Intentional homicides in the Genf canton (1971-1990)].

In the 20-year period from 1971 to 1990, 114 homicide victims have been autopsied by the Universitary Institute of Forensic Medicine in Geneva. The mean annual homicide rate was 1.5/100,000 population. The sex ratio was about 1.7 males for 1 female. The authors found 1.9 Swiss citizens for 1 foreigner. The victim's mean age was 38 years. The largest number of victims were found in the age group 20-39 years (42%). 58% of victims knew their offenders (familiars, friends and acquaintances), 11% did not know their offenders (strangers) while the relationship victim-offender remained unknown in 31% of the homicide cases of which only 16% have not been elucidated. Methods equally used were firearms and stabbing (71% of casts). Alcohol was present in the blood of 25% of the victims at rates varying between 0.7 and 3.61%. Homicides were more likely to occur in the evening and at night, during weekends and during the months of May, June, July, October and November. 50% of homicides took place at the victim's home, 8% at the offender's home and 42% outside lodgings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Rates of homicide, suicide, and firearm-related death among children--26 industrialized countries.

During 1950-1993, the overall annual death rate for U.S. children aged < 15 years declined substantially, primarily reflecting decreases in deaths associated with unintentional injuries, pneumonia, influenza, cancer, and congenital anomalies. However, during the same period, childhood homicide rates tripled, and suicide rates quadrupled. In 1994, among children aged 1-4 years, homicide was the fourth leading cause of death; among children aged 5-14 years, homicide was the third leading cause of death, and suicide was the sixth. To compare patterns and the impact of violent deaths among children in the United States and other industrialized countries, CDC analyzed data on childhood homicide, suicide, and firearm-related death in the United States and 25 other industrialized countries for the most recent year for which data were available in each country. This report presents the findings of this analysis, which indicate that the United States has the highest rates of childhood homicide, suicide, and firearm-related death among industrialized countries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

A 15 year retrospective review of homicide in the elderly.

With constant improvements in socioeconomic conditions, the people of most industrialized nations are living longer. Most elderly individuals lead productive lives within the community. Unfortunately, when elderly individuals suffer from a debilitating disease or injury, society seems ill-equipped to care for them. The frailty and social isolation that comes with illness or advanced age renders the elderly more vulnerable to crime. This study examines the circumstances that surround homicides of those 65 years of age or older which occurred in Jefferson County, Alabama over a 15 year span. We conducted a retrospective study of all decedents brought to the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner Office during the 15 years from 1981-1995. A computer search identified 150 homicide victims who were 65 years or older. In these 150 cases the causes of death were as follows: gunshot wound 50%, blunt force injuries 19%, knife wounds 14%, and asphyxiation 10%. Younger homicide victims were much less likely to be killed as the result of a direct physical assault; blunt force injuries and asphyxiation combined caused death in only 7% of the younger population. Robbery was the most common motive for death in the elderly population, which accounted for 37% of cases. The most common location for homicides in the elderly population was in their own residence, which accounted for 71% of cases. Four elderly homicide victims were shot by the police. Three elderly decedents died as a result of abuse.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Child homicide in Oklahoma: a continuing public health problem.

Homicide is a leading manner of injury to cause death in children. To assess this phenomenon in Oklahoma, the demographic characteristics and causes of death of the victims of child homicide in Oklahoma have been reviewed. One hundred eleven consecutive cases of homicide in children less than age 13 years were reviewed and the demographic characteristics of the victims were analyzed. The majority of homicides occurred in Tulsa and Oklahoma Counties (55.8%). The ratio of male to female victims was approximately equal. The races of the victims were 66.6 percent White, 24.3 percent Black, 8.1 percent Native American and 0.9 percent Asian. The most common cause of death was head injury (45.9%). An unexpected finding was that in 23.4 percent of cases, an additional fatality occurred in the family due to family violence. This fatality involved either suicide of the perpetrator or homicide of a sibling. These findings indicate a continuing family violence problem in Oklahoma.

Child↗
PubMed1995

Homicide and other injuries as causes of maternal death in New York City, 1987 through 1991.

OBJECTIVES: We attempted to document the role of homicide and other injuries as causes of maternal death and to compare the risk of fatal injury among pregnant women with that in the general population. STUDY DESIGN: We reviewed New York City medical examiner records of 2331 women aged 15 to 44 years who died of injury in 1987 through 1991. Pregnancies were identified from autopsy information. RESULTS: A total of 115 (39%) of 293 deaths in currently or recently pregnant women were attributable to injury. These 115 deaths included homicide (63%), suicide (13%), motor vehicle crashes (12%), and drug overdoses (7%). Minority women were overrepresented among the injury deaths (black 53%, Hispanic 24%, white 19%). Recent substance use was documented in 48% of the injury deaths. Pregnancy was documented on only 35% of the 115 death certificates. The risk of fatal injury is similar for currently pregnant women and for women in the general population, except for an increased risk of homicide among pregnant black women. CONCLUSIONS: Homicide and other injuries are major contributors to maternal mortality and should be (but rarely are) included routinely in maternal mortality surveillance systems. Prenatal and postpartum clinic visits represent an ideal time to implement interventions to prevent injuries among pregnant women.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1997

The association between the purchase of a handgun and homicide or suicide.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine whether purchase of a handgun from a licensed dealer is associated with the risk of homicide or suicide and whether any association varies in relation to time since purchase. METHODS: A case-control study was done among the members of a large health maintenance organization. Case subjects were the 353 suicide victims and 117 homicide victims among the members from 1980 through 1992. Five control subjects were matched to each case subject on age, sex, and zip code of residence. Handgun purchase information was obtained from the Department of Licensing. RESULTS: The adjusted relative risk of suicide was 1.9 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.4, 2.5) for persons with a history of family handgun purchase from a registered dealer. The adjusted relative risk for homicide, given a history of family handgun purchase, was 2.2 (95% CI = 1.3, 3.7). For both suicide and homicide, the elevated relative risks persisted for more than 5 years after the purchase. CONCLUSIONS: Legal purchase of a handgun appears to be associated with a long-lasting increased risk of violent death.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Effectiveness of safety measures recommended for prevention of workplace homicide.

CONTEXT: Homicide is the second leading cause of death on the job for US workers. Government agencies recommend that employers prevent violence against workers by adopting interventions originally designed to prevent robbery, but the effectiveness of these interventions is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of existing administrative and environmental interventions recommended for preventing workplace homicide. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Population-based case-control study of North Carolina workplaces where a worker had been killed between January 1, 1994, and March 31, 1998, identified through a statewide medical examiner system (cases; n = 105) and an industry-matched random sample of workplaces at risk during the same period, selected from business telephone listings (controls; n = 210). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Risk of death of a worker due to homicide. RESULTS: Among environmental interventions, strong and consistent reductions in the risk of a worker being killed on the job were associated with bright exterior lighting (odds ratio [OR], 0.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.3-1.0). Among administrative interventions, the largest beneficial effect was for staffing practices that prevented workers from being alone at night (OR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.9). Keeping doors closed during working hours was also associated consistently with substantially reduced risk (OR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.1-1.1) but was not statistically significant. Combinations of 5 or more administrative measures were associated with significantly lower levels of risk (OR, 0.1; 95% CI, 0.0-0.5). CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence suggesting that eliminating solo work at night could reduce the risk of homicide for workers. Keeping doors closed and using bright exterior lighting or combinations of administrative interventions also appear to be beneficial, but there was no evidence of effectiveness for a number of other recommended measures.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed2000

Killed on the clock: a population-based study of workplace homicide, 1977-1991.

BACKGROUND: This paper describes the epidemiology of workplace homicides in North Carolina, with emphasis on the circumstances. METHODS: Workplace homicide victims were identified by and data were abstracted from the North Carolina medical examiner system. RESULTS: Workplace homicide rates are highest for men, older and self-employed workers, minorities and specific occupations, especially taxi drivers. Robberies, mostly in retail settings, accounted for half of the cases, while 20% were known to involve disputes, the contexts of which differed by sex. Women were most likely to be killed by estranged partners. CONCLUSIONS: Preventive strategies need to address the specific contexts in which workplace homicide occurs, such as retail and taxi robberies, and law enforcement officers interacting with suspects. A workplace response to domestic violence is also needed. Other areas for future research and intervention include environmental modifications, employee screening and training, and identifying more inclusive occupational data sources.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Societal cost of workplace homicides in the United States, 1992-2001.

BACKGROUND: The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) reported 8,672 workplace homicide victims between 1992 and 2001. Although rarely calculated, cost estimates are important for prevention and research efforts. METHODS: Societal costs were estimated using the cost-of-illness approach applied to CFOI data. The cost calculation model incorporated medical expenses, future earnings summed from the year of death until the year the decedent would have been 67, and household production losses (includes activities such as child care and housework). RESULTS: Workplace homicide had a total cost of nearly 6.5 billion dollars and a mean cost of 800,000 dollars between 1992 and 2001. The retail trade industry division had the highest number of homicides and total cost, 2.1 billion dollars, for males and 556,000 dollars for females. CONCLUSIONS: Estimates of the cost of work-related homicides can be used to improve occupational injury prevention and control program planning, policy analysis, evaluation of safety and health interventions, and advocacy for a safer work environment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

The evaluation of homicidal patients by psychiatric residents in the emergency room: a pilot study.

The authors report the results of a preliminary prospective study involving 110 patients who were involuntarily committed from the emergency room. The study was designed to clarify the process of how psychiatric residents evaluate homicidal patients. Eighteen patients (16%) were committed for homicidal ideation, of whom 89% were psychotic. Surprisingly, for patients committed because of a risk of homicide, vital signs were obtained for only 11%, during a mean evaluation time of 2.5 hours. Aspects of an appropriate physical examination and laboratory studies that enable the clinician to distinguish organic from functional illness are described. The authors conclude that patients with homicidal ideation may receive inadequate assessment prior to their involuntary commitment. Possible explanations and solutions for this, and recommendations for further studies are offered.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

A role for the primary care physician in counseling young African-American men about homicide prevention.

Homicide is the leading cause of death in African-American men aged 15-34 years, yet physicians rarely discuss homicide prevention with patients. The authors propose that physicians have a role in preventing homicide similar to their role in other preventive medicine issues. This study evaluated patients' responsiveness to a physician's counseling about firearms and homicide. While being treated for unrelated problems at a walk-in ambulatory clinic, 53 African-American men patients received brief counseling by the physician about six preventive medicine topics, including firearms. A postvisit interview demonstrated that the discussion of firearms was well received and recalled more than any other preventive medicine issue discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2007

"I'm sorry I did it... but he started it": a comparison of the official and self-reported homicide descriptions of psychopaths and non-psychopaths.

This study concurrently examined the characteristics of violent actions (homicides) and the manner in which the violent acts are described by the perpetrators. N=50 offenders incarcerated for homicide were classified as psychopathic or non-psychopathic, according to the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (Hare, 1991, 2003). The instrumentality/reactivity and major details of their violence were coded from the official files. Further, the offenders' own accounts were coded on the same variables by independent raters. Results indicated that whereas psychopaths were far more likely than their counterparts to have perpetrated primarily instrumental homicides, this difference disappeared when examining the self-report descriptions. Overall, although psychopaths and non-psychopaths both tended to exaggerate the reactivity of their homicides, psychopaths did so to a greater degree. Psychopaths also were more likely to omit major details of their offenses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Increasing homicide rates and linoleic acid consumption among five Western countries, 1961-2000.

Clinical intervention trials and animal studies indicate that increasing dietary intakes of long chain n-3 FA or reducing linoleic acid intake may reduce aggressive and violent behaviors. Here we examine if economic measures of greater n-6 consumption across time and countries correlate with greater risk of homicide. Linoleic acid available for human consumption was calculated from World Health Organization disappearance data for 12 major seed oils in the food supply for the years 1961 to 2000 in Argentina, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States (US). Homicide mortality rates, adjusted for age, were obtained from the central judicial authority of each country. Apparent linoleic acid intake from seed oil sources ranged from 0.29 en% (percentage of daily food energy) (Australia 1962) to 8.3 en% (US 1990s). Greater apparent consumption of linoleic acid correlated with higher rates of homicide mortality over a 20-fold range (0.51-10.2/100,000) across countries and time in an exponential growth regression model (r = 0.94, F = 567, P < 0.00001). Within each country, correlations between greater linoleic acid disappearance and homicide mortality over time were significant in linear regression models. Randomized controlled trials are needed to determine if reducing high intakes of linoleic acid by seed oils with alternative compositions can reduce the risk of violent behaviors. These dietary interventions merit exploration as relatively cost-effective measures for reducing the pandemic of violence in Western societies, just as dietary interventions are reducing cardiovascular mortality. Low linoleate diets may prevent behavioral maladies that correctional institutions, social service programs, and mental health providers intend to treat.

Homicide↗
PubMed1986

Criminal homicide in northern Sweden 1970-1981: alcohol intoxication, alcohol abuse and mental disease.

All cases of criminal homicide in northern Sweden between 1970-81 were studied, 71 cases altogether (64 offenders). Homicide was a rare event and more infrequent compared with Sweden as a whole. The offenders were predominantly males, ages 20 to 40. Half of the victims were females. Mutual intoxication was a feature in 44% of the cases and in 34% both participants were sober. The majority of the victims were related by blood or marriage to the offender. Sharp instruments, blunt instruments and use of firearms were, in this order, the most common methods of killing. Almost one-third of the offenders had no former conviction, minor trespasses excluded. Sixty-three percent of the offenders had previously been subjected to psychiatric care, 31% were considered mentally diseased at the trial and another 22% had also a coexisting abuse or personality disorder. Three-quarters of the offenders were transferred to closed psychiatric care. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism were prevalent among 30% of the offenders and another 27% were also mentally diseased or had a personality disorder. The shares of mentally diseased and abusers/alcoholics outnumbered the prevalence of these conditions in the general population as well as in many international studies. Ten subjects committed suicide before trial; these persons were relatively more often sober at the act and fewer were alcoholics. Eight had previously received psychiatric treatment. They were more prone to kill a member of their nuclear family. Only two subjects had a previous criminal record; both concerned convictions of manslaughter. Nineteen offenders were sober at the act; 15 of these were mentally diseased. The sober offenders hardly ever attacked a person outside their family. Their motives were frequently premeditated. The killings were usually by quick, certain methods, such as firearms. No sober offender attacked an intoxicated person. The sober offenders usually had no criminal records and the homicides were often considered as murder. Five of the sober offenders committed suicide while the others were surrendered for closed psychiatric care in all but one case. Of the preventive measures, restrictions in the trade of alcohol are possibly the only factors that can reduce the homicide rate to any observable degree.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Violent deaths in the United States, 1900-1975. Relationships between suicide, homicide and accidental deaths.

Time trends are presented for suicide, homicide and accident mortality rates in the United States, 1900-1975. These data suggest that national mortality rates for suicide, homicide and motor-vehicle accidents tend to be parallel over time. Non-motor-vehicle accidents, while showing some fluctuations similar to those of other forms of violent deaths, manifest a more general decrease throughout the century. In addition, suicide rates tend to be significantly correlated over time with homicide, motor-vehicle and non-motor-vehicle accident death rates for most race and sex combinations. These results need to be viewed with caution due to the methodologic problems inherent in using national mortality data. However, the findings raise serious questions about the traditional understanding of the relationships between the various forms of violent death in populations; in particular, the popular view that suicide and homicide are inversely related in populations is questioned. The explanatory usefulness of conceptualizing violent deaths as reflecting self-destructive tendencies is discussed.

Accidents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Notes on epidemiology of homicide in an urban area.

Over the past 30 years, there was a slow but steady increase of the homicide rate in the United States. The increase was faster in the urban areas. In St. Louis, Missouri, the rate had increased from 7/100 000 in 1943 to 33/100 000 in 1973. The development of meaningful preventive measures depends upon repeated epidemiologic investigations to determine the changes in patterns of crime to see if our approach to the problem is still adequate to meet the need. The police records of 214 homicide victims in the city of St. Louis during 1973 were examined. Mean age of the victims was 35 years. Eighty-five per cent of them were men and 81% were black. There are 2 distinctly different profiles of homicide victims, "younger" under 30 years old, and "older" 30 years old and over. "Young" victims had a mean age of 21 years. They were more likely to be black, killed after an argument over money or property, or while committing a crime, and killed by a gun. There were more black victims killed by other blacks and the murderer was usually older (mean age 26 years). These homicides were less frequently victim-precipitated, killed by a relative or friend, or while drinking. "Older" victims had a mean age of 49 years. Among them there were more whites, more victim-precipitated and more victims drank prior to their death, while the murderer was usually younger (mean age 35 years).

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Guns and blood alcohol levels among homicide victims.

A retrospective study of homicide victims in Erie County, NY was conducted for 1973-1984 to determine the association of blood alcohol levels among homicide victims slain by guns and other weapons. Most victims of gunshot or beating had negative blood alcohol levels (BALs) at time of death whereas most stabbing victims had positive BALs, especially black victims. Gunshot victims were more likely to be killed in a private home compared to a street or building. Location of homicide did not relate significantly to BAL. Younger victims were less likely to be shot to death compared to middle-aged victims. These results do not support previous contentions that alcohol is a major contributor to gun-related homicides.

Adolescent↗