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PubMedDate not supplied

Gender differences in homicide in Contra Costa County, California: 1982-1993.

INTRODUCTION: Homicide is the third leading cause of injury death for women in the United States. However, few studies have examined the circumstances specific to female homicide. This study examines gender differences in circumstances surrounding homicides in Contra Costa County for a 12-year period. METHODS: Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data for Contra Costa County from 1982 through 1993 were analyzed. Variables examined were gender of the victim, victim-offender relationship, age of victim, weapon used, location of homicide, precipitating circumstances, and gender of the offender. RESULTS: Forty-six percent of the women were killed by their spouse, other family member, or intimate partner, compared to only 11.4% of men. In contrast, men were more likely to be killed by a stranger than women (17.9% versus 10.9%, P = .02). A higher percentage of women than men were killed with a blunt object, a personal weapon (i.e., fists, feet, and teeth), or other weapon (24.9% versus 10.6%, p < .01), and in a residence (60.1% versus 34.8%, P < .001). Men were more likely than women to be killed by a firearm, in a public place (i.e., a parking lot or street), and while a felony was being committed. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that many female homicides may be the result of domestic violence, belying the myth that the principal perpetrators of homicides against women are strangers. The differences between female and male homicides indicate that gender-specific prevention strategies need to be pursued.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Homicides in war and peace in Croatia.

This work shows the interdisciplinary investigation of homicides in the Osijek area during the war and prewar periods. Similarities between the prewar and wartime perpetrators are related to social-demographic characteristics. Nevertheless, significant differences are found in the homicidal method of selection among victims and participation of victims involved. The major contributing factors in homicide genesis were acute alcohol intoxication and personality disorder among perpetrators. Besides these factors, the war stressors and access to firearms were significant factors during the war homicides. Prevention efforts should be directed toward consequential measures and further investigation suggests that the emphasis must be put on victimological aspects of the homicide problem. This work is a review of an interdisciplinary investigation of prewar and war homicides in the city of Osijek district. It provides confirmation of how the number of war homicides relate to the prewar number.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1998

Risk factors for infant homicide in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Homicide is the leading cause of infant deaths due to injury. More than 80 percent of infant homicides are considered to be fatal child abuse. This study assessed the timing of deaths and risk factors for infant homicide. METHODS: Using linked birth and death certificates for all births in the U.S. between 1983 and 1991, we identified 2776 homicides occurring during the first year of life. Birth-certificate variables were reviewed in both bivariate and multivariate stratified analyses. Variables potentially predictive of homicide were selected on the basis of increased relative risks among subcategories with adequate numbers for stable estimates. RESULTS: Half the homicides occurred by the fourth month of life. The most important risk factors were a second or subsequent infant born to a mother less than 17 years old (relative risk, 10.9) or 17 to 19 years old (relative risk, 9.3), as compared with a first infant born to a mother 25 years old or older; a maternal age of less than 15 years, as compared with an age of at least 25 years (relative risk, 6.8); no prenatal care as compared with early prenatal care (relative risk, 10.4); and less than 12 years of education among mothers who were at least 17 years old (relative risk, 8.0), as compared with 16 or more years of education. CONCLUSIONS: Childbearing at an early age was strongly associated with infant homicide, particularly if the mother had given birth previously. Our findings may have implications for prevention.

Educational Status↗
PubMed2003

Mentally-ill patients charged with homicide.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical, social and demographic features of mentally ill patients charged with homicide. DESIGN: Retrospective study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The study was based on the review of case notes of the patients who were charged with homicide and referred to the mental hospital, Peshawar, between 1988 and 1998 for psychiatric evaluation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The case notes of all the patients referred for psychiatric assessment between 1988 and 1998 were retrieved. Fifty cases with complete essential information were selected for the study. The details of patients, demographic, clinical characteristics, diagnosis, events leading to the homicide, opinion of the medical board, details of the victim and possible provoking factors were recorded on a performa designed for this purpose. RESULTS: Out of 50 patients referred for psychiatric assessment with homicide, majority (49) were males, while only one was female. The mean age of the sample was 32.4 years and 30 patients (60%) were educated. Schizophrenia was the most frequent diagnosis (72%). Duration of illness in 96% of the patients was more than one year. Only 12 patients had received some form of treatment before the index crime. Thirty-eight (76%) patients were involved in single murder, while 12 patients were involved in multiple homicides. Majority of the victims (39 out of 64) were close relatives of the patients. CONCLUSION: Young male patients are mostly referred for psychiatric assessment after homicide. Close relatives are major victims. Lack of adequate psychiatric treatment is one of the contributing factors. Lack of adequate forensic psychiatric services are also highlighted by this study.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Mental disorders and homicidal behavior in Finland.

BACKGROUND: Owing to the fact that Finnish police have been able to solve about 95% of all homicides during recent decades and because most homicide offenders are subjected to an intensive psychiatric evaluation, it was possible to examine data on 693 of 994 homicide offenders during an 8-year period. METHODS: The prevalences of mental disorders of the homicide offenders were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for the statistical increase in risk associated with specific mental disorders. RESULTS: The results indicate that schizophrenia increases the OR of homicidal violence by about 8-fold in men and 6.5-fold in women. Antisocial personality disorder increases the OR over 10-fold in men and over 50-fold in women. Affective disorders, anxiety disorders, dysthymia, and mental retardation did not elevate the OR to any significant extent (OR < 5.0). CONCLUSION: Homicidal behavior in a country with a relatively low crime rate appears to have a statistical association with some specific mental disorders classified according to DSM-III-R classifications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Direction, site and the muzzle target distance of bullet in the head and neck at close range as an indication of suicide or homicide.

Direction, site and muzzle target distance can indicate suicide or homicide. This conclusion can be drawn from autopsies of 57 cases of suicide and 68 cases of homicide by handgun fired at close range to the head and neck together with going to the crimescene in some cases. This study was carried out in Bangkok during the period from January 1983 to January 1986. In order to determine whether it was suicide or homicide, the path of the bullet, the site, the muzzle target distance must be considered. The angle of the bullet would be either elevated (from below upward), horizontal or an angle of depression (from above downward). For suicide, the direction of the bullet should be at an angle of elevation in the majority of cases. The position of the handgun in relation to the head in suicide was most often in tight contact and near contact. For homicide, the direction of the bullet should be horizontal in most cases. The bullet was at close range in the majority of the cases. There are 8 common sites for suicide and homicide and 10 different sites in the case of homicide which are at neck, left cheek, left aural region, lip, left occipital area orbit, chin, left eyebrow, submental and nose.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Risk of homicidal behavior among discharged forensic psychiatric patients.

We studied the risk of homicidal behavior among 281 released male forensic psychiatric patients during the 14-year period 1978-1991. Released patients were about 300 times more likely to commit a homicide than the general male population during the first year outside hospital, and the corresponding risk was 53-fold during a mean follow-up period of 7.8 years. The odds ratio for committing a homicide among all Finnish schizophrenics during the 12-year period 1980-1991 was 9.7, which indicates that previous criminality associated with schizophrenia also increases the risk of homicidal behavior remarkably when compared with schizophrenia per se. We believe that this kind of epidemiological approach is a useful method of identifying and classifying factors associated with very high risk of homicidal behavior and preventing homicidal behavior among high-risk populations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Psychopathy (PCL-R) in a forensic psychiatric sample of homicide offenders: some reliability issues.

Several studies have shown that psychopathy is overrepresented among homicide offenders. There is a consensus that Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised PCL-R is currently the most valid and useful tool for rating psychopathy (e.g., [Fulero, S. M. (1995). Review of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. In J. C. Conoley & J. C. Impara (Eds.), Twelfth Mental Measurements Yearbook (pp. 453-454). Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute]). Usually, when making a rating of psychopathy, both an interview and an examination of the subject's files are used. However, it has been discussed what is really required to be able to rate psychopathy in a reliable manner. The aim of the present study was to retrospectively rate the degree of psychopathy in 35 homicide offenders being subjected to forensic psychiatric assessment. These ratings of psychopathy were carried out using forensic psychiatric files and courts'; verdicts only. Another aim was to examine the reliability of PCL-R in this specific Swedish sample of homicide offenders. There was a good agreement between the two raters with respect to the categorical diagnosis of psychopathy (Cohen's kappa=.81, p<.001), which indicates that retrospective ratings of psychopathy are well suited for research purposes. The prevalence of psychopathy among the homicide offenders was 31.4% (using a cut-off score of 30), which means that the construct of psychopathy may contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon of homicide. In the planning of treatment for homicide offenders, a consideration of possible psychopathy is necessary. As criminal psychopaths are known to relapse into violent criminality, it is very important that they are given efficient treatment, placement and management.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Measuring homicide in Russia: a comparison of estimates from the crime and vital statistics reporting systems.

The Russian homicide rate more than tripled between 1988 and 1994 and is now among the highest in the world. This dramatic increase, together with newly available data from a post-Soviet Russian government that is becoming more transparent, has led to a growing number of studies of homicide in Russia. As of yet, however, there has been no systematic evaluation of the homicide reporting systems in the country. This article examines the comparability of the two main sources of homicide estimates in Russia, crime data from the Ministry of the Interior and mortality data from the vital statistics registration system. These estimates are compared annually and by administrative region. Annual estimates from the vital statistics reporting system have reported an average of nearly 40% more homicides than the crime reporting system over the last decade and a half. Regionally, mortality estimates are higher than crime estimates in 66 of 78 regions, and eight of the 12 regions where crime estimates are higher are in areas where previous validation procedures suggest mortality data are suspect. As the regional homicide rate increases, so does the gap between the two estimates. Case definitions of these sources lead us to expect small discrepancies between them, but this does not account for the large differences revealed here. Both systems under-report, for different reasons, and some of the under-enumeration in both systems is purposeful and/or results from a lack of human and monetary resources. Mortality data are probably better for most purposes, especially when comparing Russia to other nations and when estimating causal models. Both systems should be used with caution, however, and the choice between them should depend on the nature of each study.

Crime↗
PubMed1998

Firearm suicides and homicides in the United States: regional variations and patterns of gun ownership.

Among industrialized countries, the United States has the highest rates of firearm suicide and homicide, as well as the highest rate of gun ownership. The present study compares the differential impact of gun availability on firearm suicides and homicides in the U.S. Using data from the NCHS Mortality Detail Files (1989-1991), the 1990 U.S. census population estimates, and the General Social Surveys (1989-1991) for nine geographic divisions, we computed rates of firearm and non-firearm suicides and homicides as well as rates of gun ownership for four gender-race groups. We tested the strength of the associations between gun availability and firearm suicide and homicide rates by computing the Spearman correlation coefficients. To help elucidate the role of method substitution, we conducted similar analyses on non-firearm suicide and homicide. The results show that gun ownership has a stronger impact on firearm suicides than homicides. These findings held up after stratifying by gender and race. The study suggests that reducing the aggregate level of gun availability may decrease the risk of firearm-related deaths.

Black or African American↗
PubMed2001

Female homicide offenders have greatly increased mortality from unnatural deaths.

The mortality of female homicidal offenders has scarcely been studied. Our aim was to examine the mortality of homicidal women in Finland using a representative nation-wide material. The data consisted of all 132 women who underwent forensic psychiatric examinations after committing homicide or attempted homicide in 1982-1992. We analysed their rate and cause of death during follow-up using standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) and the official classification of death. The mean follow-up time for dead subjects was 7 years (S.D. 4), and for the rest 11 years (S.D. 3). There were 22 observed deaths, the expected value being 1.3 (SMR 17.4). The SMR for unnatural deaths was 226 and for suicides 425. The SMRs for women below 40 years were over 220. In conclusion, homicidal women have an over 200-fold risk of unnatural death, rising to over 400-fold for suicide. This should be taken into consideration in planning discharge programmes for homicidal offenders.

Accidents↗
PubMed1998

Homicidal and suicidal sharp force fatalities in Stockholm, Sweden. Orientation of entrance wounds in stabs gives information in the classification.

A comparative study of 174 homicidal and 105 suicidal sharp force deaths in the Stockholm area is presented in order to identify variables of importance in the differentiation between homicides and suicides. In homicides, a significantly (p < 0.05) higher number of cut and stab wounds were seen in the head, upper and lower extremities and a significantly higher number of vertical stab wounds were found in the chest. Lower numbers were seen in the wrist and the crook of the arm. When counting the injured areas, irrespective of the number of injuries, abdominal wounds and horizontal chest stab wounds were also significantly more often found in victims of homicide. Injuries to the back and to the genitals were not seen in suicides. The suicide victims were significantly older and had significantly lower blood alcohol levels. A new variable pointing at a statistically significant difference between homicides and suicides was found: In homicides, stab wounds with a horizontal axis of entrance wound in the chest was found to be less common than those with a vertical axis. Other variables studied were prevalence of defence and tentative wounds, farewell notes and suicidal ideation, earlier parasuicides, venue, gender of the victims and the types of sharp objects used.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Sharp force homicides in the Stockholm area, 1983-1992.

A total of 133 males and 41 females were included in a consecutive study of homicides caused by sharp force injuries in the period 1982-1993. A comparison was made with 142 homicides in the previous 10-year period. Victims showed statistically significantly more injuries in the latter than in the previous period. The numbers of male victims had increased significantly in the combined 20-year period. The numbers of cuts and stabs inflicted on the victim were used as a variable to discriminate different groups of perpetrators. More than ten wounds were correlated to a close relation between perpetrator and victim and to assailants with mental illness. One single injury was often observed in cases where the relation between the perpetrator and the (often male) victim was based on alcohol. Between two and nine wounds were of ten seen in cases where the homicide was part of a fight among persons with lesser degree of relation. In addition almost all offenders in this group were males. More than ten wounds gave a statistically significantly lower probability that perpetrator and victim were strangers to each other. 27% of the perpetrators that had been physically examined shortly after the homicide had evidence of sharp force injuries on the hands. Perpetrators using sharp force violence showed a high mortality in accidents, deaths due to abuse, homicides and deaths due to suspicious circumstances. Laws restricting the carrying of knives in certain places did not significantly influence the number of sharp force homicides, since the absolute majority of them were carried out with knives found at the scene.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Suicide preceded by murder: the epidemiology of homicide-suicide in England and Wales 1988-92.

BACKGROUND: We describe for the first time the epidemiology of homicide-suicide incidents for England and Wales. Previous descriptions have been of incidents in London (1946-62) and Yorkshire and Humberside (1975-1992). METHODS: Death certificates were obtained for all who died in homicide-suicide incidents in England and Wales (1988-1992) that were reported by the police to the Home Office. Incidents were included in the analysis if the interval between death or fatal injury of victim and suspect was 3 or fewer days. RESULTS: Three hundred and twenty-seven people died in 144 incidents (180 victims and 147 suspects). Eighty per cent of incidents had one victim and one suspect. Three incidents were also suicide pacts between two suspects killing their children. Eighty-eight per cent of incidents exclusively involved members of the same family, 9 % acquaintances or strangers, and 3 % both family and acquaintances or strangers. Seventy-five per cent of victims were female, 85% of suspects male. The victims of male suspects were predominantly their womenfolk, past and present, and their children, and of female suspects their young children. Car exhaust and firearms accounted for 40% of victim and 50% of suspect deaths. Of all homicides during 1988-1992, 3 % of male, 11% of female and 19% of child deaths occurred in homicide-suicide incidents. Similarly, of all suicides, 0.8% of male and 0.4% of female deaths occurred in homicide-suicide incidents. CONCLUSIONS: Homicide-suicide in England and Wales is mostly 'a family matter', men of predominantly lower social class killing their kin, and pre-menopausal mothers their young children, before they kill themselves. A few men kill strangers during a crime and then themselves.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Comparative distress levels of inner-city family members of homicide victims.

This study investigated the distress levels of 150 family members of homicide victims, as well as how pre-event, peri-event, and postevent variables were related to distress. Distress levels were very high, with 26% of the sample reporting clinical distress. Because it was not possible to say if this distress resulted from the homicide itself or from the fact that people who lose family members to homicide generally have lives rooted in stressful contexts, we compared the homicide sample to two sociodemographically comparable groups of 108 other trauma victims and 119 nonvictims selected from a larger epidemiological dataset. Homicide survivors were significantly more distressed than either group, suggesting that loss of a family member to homicide has definite clinical implications. Although event-related variables were somewhat predictive of distress, pre-event and postevent variables selected for this study had greater predictive utility.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

The prediction of violence and homicide in young men.

In this prospective study, the authors predicted violence and homicide in 3 representative school samples (N = 1,517). Participants were part of a longitudinal, multiple cohort study on the development of delinquency in boys from late childhood to early adulthood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Thirty-three participants were convicted of homicide, 193 participants were convicted of serious violence, whereas another 498 participants self-reported serious violence. Predictors of violence included risk factors in the domains of child, family, school, and demographic characteristics. Boys with 4 or more violence risk factors were 6 times more likely to later commit violence in comparison with boys with fewer than 4 risk factors (odds ratio [OR] = 6.05). A subset of risk factors related to violence also predicted homicide among violent offenders. Boys with 4 or more risk factors for homicide were 14 times more likely to later commit homicide than violent individuals with fewer than 4 risk factors (OR = 14.48). Implications for the prevention of violence and homicide are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Homicide and suicide risks associated with firearms in the home: a national case-control study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: I test the hypothesis that having a gun in the home is a risk factor for adults to be killed (homicide) or to commit suicide. METHODS: Two case-control analyses were based on national samples of subjects 18 years of age or older. Homicide and suicide case subjects were drawn from the 1993 National Mortality Followback Survey. Living control subjects were drawn from the 1994 National Health Interview Survey. Ten control subjects matched by sex, race, and age group were sought for each case subject. RESULTS: The homicide sample consisted of 1,720 case subjects and 8,084 control subjects. Compared with adults in homes with no guns, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for homicide was 1.41 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20 to 1.65) for adults with a gun at home and was particularly high among women (adjusted OR 2.72; 95% CI 1.89 to 3.90) compared with men (adjusted OR 1.23; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.49) and among nonwhite subjects (adjusted OR 1.74; 95% CI 1.37 to 2.21) compared with white subjects (adjusted OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.03 to 1.56). Further analyses revealed that a gun in the home was a risk factor for homicide by firearm means (adjusted OR 1.72; 95% CI 1.40 to 2.12) but not by nonfirearm means (OR 0.83; 95% CI 0.62 to 1.11). The suicide sample consisted of 1,959 case subjects and 13,535 control subjects. The adjusted OR for suicide was 3.44 (95% CI 3.06 to 3.86) for persons with a gun at home. However, further analysis revealed that having a firearm in the home was a risk factor for suicide by firearm (adjusted OR 16.89; 95% CI 13.26 to 21.52) but was inversely associated with suicide by other means (adjusted OR 0.68; 95% CI 0.55 to 0.84). CONCLUSION: Having a gun at home is a risk factor for adults to be shot fatally (gun homicide) or commit suicide with a firearm. Physicians should continue to discuss with patients the implications of keeping guns at home. Additional studies are warranted to address study limitations and to better understand the implications of firearm ownership.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Homicide in homosexual victims: a study of 67 cases from the Broward County, Florida, Medical Examiner's office (1982-1992), with special emphasis on "overkill".

Forensic pathologists often state that homosexual homicides are more violent than those with heterosexual victims. Overkill or wounding far beyond that required to cause death is a frequently used descriptor of these deaths. We quantified the number and extent of injuries between homosexual and heterosexual homicide victims to determine whether one group suffered more violence than the other. This case-control study involved 67 homosexual homicide victims and 195 age, race, and gender-matched heterosexual (control) homicide victims from the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, between 1982 and 1992. The sexual preference of the victims was determined by police and medical examiner investigation. We compared the percentage of cases with multiple causes of death, mean number of injuries/case, and the mean number of different body sites with injuries/case between the two groups. The percentage of cases with multiple causes was 12% (n = 8) and 5% (n = 10) in the homosexual and heterosexual victims, respectively, with no significant statistical difference detected (Fisher exact test, two-tail, p = 0.088). The mean number of fatal sharp (5.4 vs 3.3, p < 0.05), blunt (9.0 vs 6.5, p < 0.05), and total (14.5 vs 6.5, p < 0.001) injuries/case was greater among the homosexual victims than among the heterosexual group. These differences were all statistically significant using the Mann-Whitney rank sum test. The mean number of different body sites with injuries/case was also greater (3.5 vs 2.4, p < 0.001) among the homosexual victims than among the heterosexual group. This difference was statistically significant using the Mann-Whitney rank sum test. Homosexual homicides are more violent than heterosexual homicides when one compares the mean number of injuries (fatal sharp, blunt, and total)/case and the extent of injuries on the body. The mean number of stab wounds wounds/case and percentage of cases with multiple causes of death were also greater among the homosexual group, but the differences were not statistically significant.

Adult↗