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PubMed1994

Homicide in New York City. Cocaine use and firearms.

OBJECTIVE: To determine differences between racial/ethnic groups in overall rates of death by homicide, proportion of firearm homicides, and the use of cocaine prior to death. DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiologic survey of a complete 2-year sample of homicides. SETTING: New York City, NY (population 7,322,564). SUBJECTS: All residents (N = 4298) of New York City who were victims of homicide during 1990 and 1991. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Using medical examiner data, age- and gender-specific rates of homicide were calculated for African Americans, Latinos, and whites. Separate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between demographic variables and both recent cocaine use and firearm-related homicides. RESULTS: Young African-American and Latino men were more likely to be victims of homicide than all other demographic groups. Approximately three fourths of all homicides involved firearms. In the subset of homicide victims dying within 48 hours (n = 3890), 31.0% were positive for cocaine metabolites. African Americans (odds ratio [OR], 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2 to 2.1), Latinos (OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.9), and victims 25 through 34 years of age (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 2.5 to 3.5) and 35 through 44 years of age (OR, 2.7; 95% CI, 2.2 to 3.4) were more likely to be positive for cocaine metabolites than other groups. Young males and females were equally likely to have used cocaine before death. Victims 15 through 24 years of age were more likely than other age groups to be killed by a firearm. African Americans (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.3 to 2.3), Latinos (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.2 to 2.0), and Asians (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.4 to 3.6) were more likely than whites to be killed by a firearm. Men (OR, 4.8; 95% CI, 4.0 to 5.9) were more likely than women to be killed by a firearm. There was no association between having used cocaine before death and being killed by a firearm. CONCLUSIONS: The high rates of death by homicide among young African Americans and Latinos may be due to the increased involvement with both cocaine use and firearms. New efforts must be made to decrease cocaine use and firearm availability.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Homicidal sex offenders: psychological, phallometric, and diagnostic features.

Homicidal sex offenders represent an understudied population in the forensic literature. Forty-eight homicidal sex offenders assessed between 1982 and 1992 were studied in relation to a comparison group of incest offenders. Historical features, commonly used psychological inventories, criminal histories, phallometric assessments, and DSM diagnoses were collected on each group. The homicidal sex offenders, compared with the incest offenders, self-reported that they had more frequently been removed from their homes during childhood and had more violence and forensic psychiatric contact in their histories. On the self-report psychological inventories, the homicidal sex offenders portrayed themselves as functioning significantly better in the areas of sexuality (Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory) and aggression/hostility (Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory). However, on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), researchers rated the homiciders significantly more psychopathic than the incest offenders on Factor 1 (personality traits) and Factor 2 (antisocial history). Police records revealed the homicidal subjects also had been charged or convicted of more violent and nonviolent nonsexual offenses. The phallometric assessments indicated that the homicidal sex offenders demonstrated higher levels of response to pedophilic stimuli and were significantly more aroused to stimuli depicting assaultive acts to children, relative to the incest offenders. Despite the homiciders' self-reports of fairly good psychological functioning, DSM-III diagnoses reliably discriminated between the groups. A large number of homicidal sex offenders were diagnosed as suffering from psychosis, antisocial personality disorder, paraphilias, sexual sadism, sexual sadism with pedophilia, and substance abuse. Seventy-five percent of the homicidal sex offenders had three or more diagnoses compared with six percent of the incest offenders. The article addresses the role of "hard" versus "soft" measures in the assessment and treatment of violent sex offenders. In addition, the usefulness of phallometric assessments and the PCL-R and its subscales are considered.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Variants of homicide: a review.

Killing of an individual is the highest level of aggression found in all cultures. Modes of killing of the victims vary with the history and the cultural background of a country. In 13th century, pardonable homicide was distinguished from homicide committed with preplanning. Later homicide which was committed with preplanning was classified as 'premeditated' or 'intentional' or 'first degree' murder in different parts of the world. When sufficient proof of preplanning or malice aforethought was not present the term 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder' is used in India, 'manslaughter' in England and 'unintentional' homicide in Iceland. Sometime homicide may be the end result of several different chains of events of which mental abnormality is one. To convict a person in case of homicide the types of homicide must be established. This review explores some means of classifying homicides.

Criminal Psychology↗
PubMed2005

Suicide-homicide temporal interrelationship, links with other fatalities, and environmental physical activity.

UNLABELLED: Homicide and suicide are extremes in human behavior. The aim of this study is to investigate the connection by time between suicide and homicide, between them and other fatalities, and their links with the level of cosmophysical activity. METHODS: Using the national database of Lithuania (1990-2002) we found that 547,875 deaths, 4,638 homicides (3,374 male) and 19,527 (16,019 male) suicides were registered in that period. Their temporal distribution over 156 months was compared with solar and cosmic-ray activity. Pearson correlation coefficients and their probabilities were established. RESULTS: There was a correlation between monthly rates of homicide and male groups. Female suicide rates correlated with male and total homicide numbers. Both homicide and suicide rates were inversely correlated with solar and cosmic-ray activity. Suicide numbers, but not homicides, were inversely related to geomagnetic activity. Suicide rates were inversely correlated with total, cardiovascular, traffic accident, and sudden deaths; homicide with total, traffic accident, and sudden deaths. CONCLUSION: Temporal distribution of homicide and suicide is significantly interrelated. Both are linked to parameters of cosmophysical activity. The influence of cosmic rays deserves special attention.

Cosmic Radiation↗
PubMed2005

Age- and sex-specific analysis of homicide mortality as a function of economic development: a cross-national comparison.

AIMS: This study examined the association between homicide rates and GNP per capita (as a measure of economic development) among all age- and sex-specific groups in 53 countries. METHODS: Cross-sectional data on homicide rates by age- and sex- specific groups were obtained for 53 countries from World Health Statistics Annual 1996. The association between homicide rates and economic development was studied by using two methods: (1) with regression analysis and (2) by categorizing the data into four income-based country groups and then comparing the differences in their mean values. RESULTS: Results indicate that there was a negative correlation between homicide rates and economic development. The association between homicide rates and country GNP per capita became stronger with increasing age. Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient was strongest among older age groups (65+year) in both sexes (male, r = -0.77 and female, r = -0.71). The correlation was weakest and positive among 1- to 4-year-old children (males, r = 0.17 and females, r = 0.07). The homicide rate among females was highest for <1-year-old children in low income countries (LICs) (12.8 per 100,000). CONCLUSIONS: Lower middle-income countries are in the stage of high priority where both homicide rates and homicide as percentage of total death are high, and its impact was greatest for young males. However, infanticide as a public health problem seems highly concentrated in the poorest countries, while homicide among small children, 1-4 years old, appears to be a universal phenomenon across all nations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Homicide risk across race and class: a small-area analysis in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Areas with higher absolute poverty and higher income inequality have been associated with higher risk of homicide victimization. In addition, studies of differential homicide rates have indicated that black persons are at a higher risk of homicide compared to white persons. However, few studies directly compared risk of homicide offending or victimization between Hispanic persons and non-Hispanic white persons, and few studies have attempted to examine the interaction between race and residential neighborhood socioeconomic measures on homicide risk. This population-based retrospective study comprised all white, black, and Hispanic 15- to 44-year-old men included in the 1990 US Census as Rhode Island or Massachusetts residents. Vital statistics registries were linked to 1990 US Census data to provide information on small-area characteristics. Overall, we observed a trend of increasing homicide risk as block-group socioeconomic position descended. The data indicated that block-group poverty, female-headed households, home ownership, and higher education were all strongly associated with homicide risk after stratifying by race and age of victim and adjusting for other block-group socioeconomic characteristics. Race was a strong modifier for absolute risk difference for the relation between risk of homicide and socioeconomic surroundings. Our analyses suggested that area-based interventions that would improve neighborhood social and economic conditions would be effective in decreasing risk of homicide for men.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Epidemiologic characteristics of primary homicides in the United States.

Homicide is one of the five leading causes of death for all persons 1-44 years of age. Over half of the homicides occurring in 1979 did not involve the perpetration of another crime. The authors have defined these as primary homicides and suggest that these deaths require the formulation of public health and social services prevention strategies. An epidemiologic assessment of primary homicides in the United States for 1976 through 1979 showed the following. Sixty per cent of primary homicides were male victim/male offender events; 40% involved a female as a victim and/or as an offender. Three per cent of primary homicides were female victim/female offender events; 97% involved a male as a victim and/or as an offender. Primary homicides involving female victims or offenders were more frequently intrafamilial than those involving males, but rates of intrafamilial homicides by males were greater than those involving females. The preponderance of all primary homicides occurred between acquaintances, but the relationship between victim and offender varied with age, sex, and race. The weapons used varied with the victim's and offender's age, sex, and race, and with the relationship between victim and offender. Based on the described patterns, prevention measures should be divided into three broad areas: intrafamilial violence, extrafamilial violence, and male patterns of aggression. Key target populations for the first area include females, rural households, and the very young or very old. A key target population for the second area is teenage males.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Changes in the timing of SIDS deaths in 1989 and 1999: indirect evidence of low homicide prevalence among reported cases.

An unknown proportion of cases diagnosed as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) are misdiagnosed, and in some cases are homicides. Because recent SIDS prevention measures were unlikely to reduce homicides, changes in the reported timing of SIDS cases provide an indirect measure of covert homicides in this group. This paper uses United States vital statistics microdata to explore these questions. The sample includes all reported infant deaths to singletons with birthweight > 500 g in the 1989 and 1999 US birth cohorts. Deaths attributed to SIDS (n = 7708), homicide (n = 597), or object inhalation and mechanical suffocation (n = 860) are specifically examined. If reported SIDS cases were a mixture of 'true' cases and misdiagnosed homicides, it is hypothesised that the age-at-death distribution of SIDS deaths would have changed to reflect greater prevalence of misdiagnosed homicide. We find that the age-at-death distribution of reported SIDS cases was virtually unchanged in the two cohorts, showing no increase during periods of infancy when relative homicide risk is most pronounced. One cannot reject the hypothesis that the timing was drawn from the same distribution (chi2(52)= 62.2, P = 0.157). Analogous results hold for infants born in circumstances associated with high homicide risk (chi2(50) = 61.5, P = 0.12). The stable age-at-death distribution of reported SIDS cases between 1989 and 1999 suggests that covert homicides are a small fraction of reported SIDS cases.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2006

Extent, trends, and perpetrators of prostitution-related homicide in the United States.

Prostitute women have the highest homicide victimization rate of any set of women ever studied. We analyzed nine diverse homicide data sets to examine the extent, trends, and perpetrators of prostitution-related homicide in the United States. Most data sources substantially under-ascertained prostitute homicides. As estimated from a conservative capture-recapture analysis, 2.7% of female homicide victims in the United States between 1982 and 2000 were prostitutes. Frequencies of recorded prostitute and client homicides increased substantially in the late 1980s and early 1990s; nearly all of the few observed pimp homicides occurred before the late 1980s. These trends may be linked to the rise of crack cocaine use. Prostitutes were killed primarily by clients, clients were killed mainly by prostitutes, and pimps were killed predominantly by pimps. Another conservative estimate suggests that serial killers accounted for 35% of prostitute homicides. Proactive surveillance of, and evidence collection from, clients and prostitutes might enhance the investigation of prostitution-related homicide.

Crime Victims↗
PubMed2002

The nature of newspaper coverage of homicide.

OBJECTIVES: Previous research has shown that some homicides are more likely than others to receive newspaper coverage (for example, homicides by strangers). The present investigation examined whether, once the decision has been made to report on a homicide, the nature of the coverage (that is, how much visibility is given to a story, what information is included, and how a story is written) differs according to two key variables, victim ethnicity, and victim-suspect relationship. SETTING: Los Angeles, California (USA). METHODS: Homicide articles from the 1990-94 issues of the Los Angeles Times were stratified according to the predictors of interest (victim ethnicity and victim-suspect relationship) and a sample was drawn. Data that characterized two primary aspects of newspaper coverage, prominence and story framing (including background information, story focus, use of opinions, story tone, and "hook" or leading introductory lines) were abstracted from the articles. Descriptive statistics and cross tabulations were generated. Multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the predictive value of victim ethnicity and victim-suspect relationship on the nature of the newspaper coverage. RESULTS: Newspaper coverage of homicide was generally factual, episodic, and unemotional in tone. Victim-suspect relationship, but not victim ethnicity, was related to how a story was covered, particularly the story frame. Homicides by intimates were covered consistently differently from other types of homicides; these stories were less likely to be opinion dominated, be emotional, and begin with a "hook". CONCLUSION: Victim-suspect relationship was related to the nature of coverage of homicides in a large, metropolitan newspaper. Given the agenda setting and issue framing functions of the news media, these findings have implications for the manner in which the public and policy makers perceive homicides and, consequently, for the support afforded to various types of solutions for addressing and preventing violence.

Bibliometrics↗
PubMed1998

Homicide-suicide in older persons.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the annual incidence of homicide-suicide and to compare patterns and antecedents in old and young spousal/consortial cases. METHODS: Homicide-suicide cases were ascertained in four medical examiner districts covering seven entire Florida counties from 1988 to 1994. The districts were chosen to determine rates in two regions of Florida, comparable in size of the total population and proportion of older persons. Annual homicide-suicide incidence rates per 100,000 population and homicide-suicides as a percentage of total homicides and total suicides separately were calculated by age group and Florida region. Complete medical examiner files were obtained, and 160 variables were coded from medical examiner reports to compare features and clinical characteristics by age and region. RESULTS: Annual incidence rates ranged from 0.3 to 0.7 per 100,000 for persons under age 55 and from 0.4 to 0.9 per 100,000 for persons age 55 and older, with higher rates in the older group every year but two. Cases of spousal/consortial homicide-suicide were the most common in both age groups. The younger couples in both regions were comparable, except for racial composition, but the older couples differed. West central Florida couples were in their seventies, Caucasian, usually married, and both in poor health; and there were indications of depression or alcohol abuse in half the perpetrators. Two-thirds of the southeastern Florida couples were Hispanic; there was a mean age difference of 18 years between perpetrators and victims; and verbal discord, physical violence, and separation were prominent antecedents. CONCLUSIONS: The base rate for homicide-suicide in both age groups was higher than that reported in previous studies. Spousal/consortial homicide-suicides were the dominant form, and although psychopathology was strongly implicated, homicide-suicides are violent lethal acts resulting from additive or multiplicative effects of diathesis, including culture, and stressful experiences.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed2005

A statewide case-control study of spousal homicide-suicide in older persons.

OBJECTIVE: Homicide-suicides are rare relative to suicides and homicides, but these lethal events are an emerging public health concern. They have a mortality count similar to meningitis, pulmonary tuberculosis, influenza, and viral hepatitis, and the rate may be increasing in the United States, especially among older persons. The goal of this case-control study was to identify factors that differentiate older married men who commit homicide-suicide from those who commit suicide only. METHODS: A total of 20 spousal homicide-suicides involving persons age 55 years and older were ascertained in Florida between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 1999 from medical examiner records. Two suicide controls were matched to each homicide-suicide perpetrator by age, race, marital status, method of death, and medical examiner district. Perpetrator groups were compared on sociodemographic characteristics, medical variables, and autopsy findings. RESULTS: Homicide-suicide perpetrators displayed significantly more domestic violence or were caregivers for their wives, in contrast to suicide perpetrators, who had health problems and were receiving care from their spouses. Both groups of perpetrators had reported depressed mood, and there were no differences in sociodemographic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Depression plays a significant role in both homicide-suicide and suicide, but the associated factors are different: we see caregiving strain in perpetrators of homicide-suicide, and living with physical health disorders as a care-recipient in men who commit suicide. Marital conflict is a significant factor in some spousal homicide-suicides.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Differentiation of homicidal child molesters, nonhomicidal child molesters, and nonoffenders by phallometry.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of phallometry to discriminate among homicidal child molesters, nonhomicidal child molesters, and a comparison group of nonoffenders. METHOD: Twenty-seven child molesters who had committed or had attempted a sexually motivated homicide, 189 nonhomicidal child molesters, and 47 nonoffenders were compared on demographic variables and psychometrically determined responses to aural descriptions of sexual vignettes. Two phallometric indexes were used: the pedophile index and the pedophile assault index. The pedophile index was computed by dividing the subject's highest response to an aural description of sex with a "consenting" child by his highest response to description of sex with a consenting adult. The pedophile assault index was computed by dividing the subject's highest response to an aural description of assault involving a child victim by his highest response to description of sex with a "consenting" child. RESULTS: Homicidal child molesters, nonhomicidal child molesters, and nonoffenders were not significantly different in age or IQ. Homicidal and nonhomicidal child molesters had significantly higher pedophile index scores than nonoffenders. Significantly more homicidal child molesters (14 [52%] of 27) and nonhomicidal child molesters (82 [46%] of 180) than nonoffenders (13 [28%] of 47) had pedophile index scores equal to or greater than 1.0, but homicidal and nonhomicidal child molesters did not differ from each other. Significantly more homicidal child molesters (17 [63%] of 27) than either nonhomicidal child molesters (71 [40%] of 178) or nonoffenders (17 [36%] of 47) had pedophile assault index scores equal to or greater than 1.0, and nonhomicidal child molesters and nonoffenders were not significantly different from each other. Within-group analyses revealed that of the three groups, only the nonhomicidal child molesters exhibited a significant difference between their pedophile index scores and their pedophile assault index scores; their pedophile index scores were higher. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with past research, the authors found that the pedophile index is useful in differentiating homicidal and nonhomicidal child molesters from nonoffenders and that the pedophile assault index is able to differentiate homicidal child molesters from nonhomicidal child molesters and nonoffenders.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Firearm homicide and firearm suicide: opposite but equal.

OBJECTIVE: Homicide and suicide are intentional acts of violence that disproportionately involve firearms. Much more effort has been devoted to the ecological study of homicide; methods that have been developed to better understand and subsequently prevent homicide may be applicable to suicide. The purpose of the present study was to compare the occurrence of firearm homicide and firearm suicide using routine activity theory as a framework for analysis. METHODS: Detailed mortality data pertaining to decedents, their neighborhoods, and use of firearms were collected from 1994 to 1998 for the counties containing and surrounding three small to medium-sized U.S. cities. Data from a total of 468 neighborhoods that collectively experienced 1,025 intentional deaths from firearms (396 firearm homicides and 629 firearm suicides) were analyzed. RESULTS: Firearm homicide was consistently associated with out-of-home, nighttime activity in neighborhoods where many people were likely to be coming and going. In an opposite-but-equal fashion, firearm suicide was consistently associated with in-home, daytime activity in out-of-the-way neighborhoods. CONCLUSIONS: Firearm homicide and firearm suicide were found to be consistently associated with markers of routine activity in all three cities, albeit in an opposite-but-equal manner. Because firearm suicides very often occur as lonely events in lonely neighborhoods, they may go under-noticed relative to firearm homicides. More awareness and additional public health studies of firearm suicide, in tandem with firearm homicide, should be pursued to better identify individuals and neighborhoods that are at greatest risk of experiencing each event.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Coroner-reviewed infant and toddler deaths. Many "undetermineds" resemble homicides.

Although homicide is a leading cause of death of infants and toddlers, there is some suspicion that an unknown number of additional deaths are unrecognized homicides. The authors used California mortality data from 1969 to 1991 to examine 12,246 injury deaths that occurred before age 5. Characteristics of the dead child, injury event, and postmortem were compared for accidents, homicides, and undetermined deaths. A logistic model was developed to differentiate homicides from accidental deaths and then was used to predict whether undetermined deaths were likely to be homicides or accidents. Unlike accidental deaths, undetermineds and homicides had similar distribution patterns of age, race, sex, and place of injury. The predictive model indicates that 43.8% of the undetermined injury deaths were similar to homicides on several characteristics. True rates of homicide for infants and toddlers may, unfortunately, be nearly one fifth and one tenth higher, respectively, if the undetermined deaths that resemble homicides are taken into account.

Accidents↗
PubMed2005

[Trends of homicide death in Brazil in the 90s: the role of firearms].

OBJECTIVE: To describe the growth of homicide death in Brazil and to investigate the contribution of firearms to homicide death growth in the 90s. METHODS: An ecological descriptive time series was carried out for the period 1991 to 2000. External cause mortality data were obtained according to place of residence for the overall population and by gender from the Ministry of Health Mortality Information System. Homicides were classified as firearm, non-firearm and unknown (weapon) deaths. Proportional mortality and mortality rates (by 100,000) were calculated. RESULTS: Homicides accounted for 33% of all external cause deaths in the 90s. Firearms were used in more than 50% of deaths in 1991 and in almost 70% in 2000. This growth was seen for both genders and in all state capitals. Homicide mortality rate grew 27.5% in the whole country, and firearm homicide mortality rate grew 72.5%. During the same period there was a drop in deaths classified as unknown weapon homicide, which could partially explain the growth seen in firearm homicide rates. CONCLUSIONS: Data suggest the magnitude of firearm contribution for the growing tendency of homicide deaths in Brazil in the 90s. Data quality regarding intentionality and type of weapon used has hindered data analysis.

Brazil↗
PubMed1991

Preventing homicide: an evaluation of the efficacy of a Detroit gun ordinance.

BACKGROUND: In November 1986, a Detroit, Michigan city ordinance requiring mandatory jail sentences for illegally carrying a firearm in public was passed to preserve "the public peace, health, safety, and welfare of the people." METHODS: We conducted a set of interrupted time-series analyses to evaluate the impact of the law on the incidence of homicides, hypothesizing that the ordinance, by its nature, would affect only firearm homicides and homicides committed outside (e.g., on the street). RESULTS: The incidence of homicide in general increased after the law was passed, but the increases in non-firearm homicides and homicides committed inside (e.g., in a home) were either statistically significant or approached statistical significance (p = .006 and p = .070, respectively), whereas changes in the incidence of firearm homicides and homicides committed outside were not statistically significant (p = .238 and p = .418, respectively). We also determined that the ordinance was essentially unenforced, apparently because of a critical shortage of jail space. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with a model in which the ordinance had a dampening effect on firearm homicides occurring in public in Detroit. The apparent preventive effect evident in the time series analyses may have been due to publicity about the ordinance, whereas the small nature of the effect may have been due to the lack of enforcement.

Firearms↗
PubMed2004

Gun availability and use of guns for suicide, homicide, and murder in Canada.

A reliability check of Lester's (2000b) 1970-1995 time series that examined associations between the availability of firearms and their use for homicide and suicide in Canada. For the period 1974 to 1999, the relative availability of firearms as measured by the rate of accidental death from firearms and the average of the percentages of suicides + homicides using firearms was positively associated with the rate of homicide by firearms but not negatively associated with the rate of homicide by all other methods, and positively associated with the rate of suicide by firearms and negatively associated with the rate of suicide by all other methods. Correlations for the homicide versus murder rates, homicide rate using guns versus murder rate using guns, and homicide rate by all other methods versus murder rate by all other methods were very similar. There was a decrease over time of total suicide and homicide rates and firearm suicide and homicide rates, and with a slight indication of substitution of other methods for suicide.

Canada↗