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Homicide Data in Europe: Definitions, Sources, and Statistics

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In this chapter we address differing definitions on homicide, available data sources and the quality of the data. Apart from complications with translation‖the translation of the term “homicide” in another language does not necessarily cover the exact notion of homicide in the English context‖definitions of homicide between countries are different for various reasons. First, the notions of premeditated and intentional homicide are not everywhere used in the same way, and in particular intentional homicide is not in every country seen as an essential element of homicide as it is in the definition used for international data sources. Second, there are several “special” forms of homicide, such as euthanasia and abortion, that may or may not be part of the definition of homicide. For national data sources it is shown which elements are part of the homicide statistics and which elements could be included or excluded dependent on the definitions used by international data sources. The quality of homicide data is dependent on reliability and completeness. Whether to include attempted homicides is an important issue here; but the questions whether missing persons could be the victim of a homicide or whether the cause of death is correctly established are relevant. Also, the way statistical (counting) rules are applied have an impact on the results.

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... 9 Apparently different research areas in criminology, including homicide research, have managed to operationally define the subject of their interest, without necessarily embedding it into an overarching definitional or conceptual framework. 10 Such operational definitions in homicide research commonly discuss various aspects of diverse normative concepts (e.g., premeditation, intent, negligence, unlawful abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, infanticide, assault leading to death, reckless driving, justified killings, attempt, or responsibility) and then operationally simply decide on including some and excluding others (Smit et al., 2012). With the BHS, we conceptually did not solve this issue, neither did we much discuss it, except for the issue of attempt. ...
... Surely, criminology's lack of being perspective-defined might render it deficient in terms of disciplinary autonomy, but at the same time, its very nature of being problem-defined predestines it for transdisciplinarity, thereby providing it with a unique yet underutilized competitive advantage (Getoš Kalac, 2020). particularly internationally comparable ones (UNODC, 2019a;Smit et al., 2012), homicide research that is based on case analysis should include attempts, just as it should include a wide range of various types of non-homicidal (lethal) violent events, in order to enable the interpretation of findings within their overall violent context. 11 ...
... Homicide is generally considered the most serious of all crimes (Smit et al., 2012), and according to some, it constitutes the "tip of the iceberg" of underlying crime. In this view, homicide is the end result of lesser forms of crimes, such as robberies, rapes, and thefts (Ouimet & Montmagny-Grenier, 2014). ...
Book
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This is the first volume to offer an in-depth look at (lethal) violence in the Balkans. The Balkans Homicide Study analyses approx. 3,000 (attempted) homicide cases from Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania and Slovenia. Shedding light on a region long neglected in terms of empirical violence research, the study at hand asks: - What types of homicides occur in the Balkans?- Who are the perpetrators and what motivates them?- Who are the victims and what potential protective factors are on their side?- Why do prosecutors dismiss homicide investigations? Amongst other questions and considerations, this brief discusses regional commonalities throughout the Balkans in view of their cultural,historical and normative context. Dismantling negative stereotypes of a growing and thriving Balkan society, this volume will be of interest to researchers in the Balkans, researchers of post-conflict regions, and those interested in the nature of homicide and its motivation, prevention, and various criminal justice approaches.
... The homicide rate is often seen as the most reliable indicator of crime and stability in the country and, compared with other crimes, has rarely been approached from this critical institutionalist perspective (Von Hofer, 2000; with the exceptions of Andreev et al., 2015;Malby, 2010;Smit et al., 2012). Drawing on this perspective helps us examine both the incentives of the agencies that collect homicide data and the mechanisms these agencies use to misrepresent data. ...
... Legal factors broadly refer to the impact of the legal definitions of crime and to the characteristics of the legal process and its influence on police investigations and court decision-making. One of the main factors that affects the interpretation and comparability of official data on homicide is the way it is defined and classified in a country's criminal code (Aebi et al., 2014;Harrendorf, 2012;Smit et al., 2012). Official data on crime, including homicide, are usually compiled according to national legislation and concepts, which hamper international comparability. ...
... Legal definition of homicide in Russia. Although the concept of homicide appears straightforward (that is, the intentional killing of a person by another person), it can be defined narrowly or in a more expansive manner (Smit et al., 2012). Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code defines criminal homicide as 'an intentional causing of death to another person' and describes criminal homicide (part 1) and criminal homicide with aggravating circumstances (part 2). 1 Some of the aggravated circumstances include killing two or more people, a minor or a pregnant woman. ...
Article
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Homicide statistics are often seen as the most reliable and comparable indicator of violent deaths around the world. However, the analysis of Russian homicide statistics challenges this understanding and suggests that international comparisons of homicide levels can be hazardous. Drawing on an institutionalist perspective on crime statistics, official crime-based homicide statistics in Russia are approached as a social construct, a performance indicator and a tool of governance. The paper discusses several incentives to misrepresent official homicide data in contemporary Russia, including politicization of homicide statistics as a legacy of the Soviet’ era’s falsified crime statistics and the role of policing. Mainly, the paper identifies and describes the exact legal, statistical and country-specific substantive mechanisms that allow homicide statistics to be distorted in Russia. By considering legal mechanisms alone, the more accurate homicide rate may be at least 1.6 times higher than that reported in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Study on Homicide 2013.
... Not surprisingly, drug-related violence constitutes an important topic for policymakers and practitioners across Europe (Ajzenman, Galiani, & Seira, 2015). One of the crimes within this wider category of drug-related violence is homicide (DRH), which is generally considered as one of the most serious types of crime (Smit, De Jong, & Bijleveld, 2012). As the dark figure of homicide is relatively low compared to other violent crimes, homicide is oftentimes used as an indicator for violent crime in general (e.g. ...
... At the national level, countries typically define homicide by a selection of articles from the national criminal code (Smit et al., 2012). In some countries, this definition may include 'non-prototypical homicides', such as abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, infanticide, assault leading to death, dangerous driving, and justified killing, while other countries do not consider these events cases of homicide. ...
... For instance, several studies have shown that cause-ofdeath statistics are generally lower than police statistics (e.g. see Granath et al., 2011;Smit et al., 2012). Fragmentation is exacerbated as homicide data availability and detail can differ between geographical levels. ...
Article
Background: Drugs can act as facilitators for all types of violence, including drug-related homicide (DRH). Addressing this phenomenon is not only of importance given the severity of a homicide event and its high costs on society, but also because DRH has the potential to act as a valuable indicator or proxy of wider drug-related violent crime. However, there appears to be an important gap in terms of available European data on DRH. This study aimed to identify relevant European data sources on DRH, to assess the role of drugs in national homicide data, and to assess these sources and data in terms of monitoring potential. Methods: A critical review was conducted of existing national and international homicide data sources. A three-step approach was adopted, including systematic searches for data sources and literature, snowballing methods, and contacting professionals. Results: Data on DRH is systematically prepared in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (England, Wales, and Scotland). Available data suggests both between- and within country variability in relation to the role of drugs in homicide events. Based on these findings, four key obstacles can be identified in terms of the current ability to monitor DRH: missing data, fragmented data, comparability issues and data quality reservations. Conclusion: To overcome these obstacles, there is a need for an international monitoring system that incorporates DRH. Ideally, the system should employ a single shared definition, standardised terminology, one coordinating body, and the use of multiple data sources. There are several approaches towards such a system, notably expanding the European Homicide Monitor (EHM) framework. Options should be explored to incorporate DRH into this existing and growing monitoring system.
... This definition is based on the premise that homicides are intentional. However, because the WHO cannot enforce compliance with the definition, Smit, De Jong, and Bijleveld (2012) argued that deaths are likely to include both intentional and unintentional homicides; body count is the measurement unit. Certain deaths are excluded from the WHO data: legal intervention deaths (i.e., caused by law enforcement or military personnel), war-related deaths, lives lost as a result of dangerous driving, assistance with suicide, abortion, and homicide attempts. ...
... Certain deaths are excluded from the WHO data: legal intervention deaths (i.e., caused by law enforcement or military personnel), war-related deaths, lives lost as a result of dangerous driving, assistance with suicide, abortion, and homicide attempts. The WHO collects mortality data based on death certificates that are completed by medical doctors or, in certain countries, police officials (Smit et al., 2012). ...
... The two data sources also exclude different categories of deaths (infanticides in the UN data vs. various other types of death in the WHO data; see above). It has been argued that disparities in findings across the different data sources may be due to operational differences relating to the types of incidents included in the homicide category (Smit et al., 2012). In the WHO data, the level of expertise of public health officials is variable (Howard, Newman, & Pridemore, 2000), and they are at times unable to determine the cause of death. ...
Article
Data reliability and validity are methodological concerns in cross-national analyses of crime, but there is little agreement on which source of data provides the most reliable estimates. Moreover, few studies have examined the potential threat to validity posed by unclassified deaths. The current study aims to (1) assess the reliability of cross-national homicide data from the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO); and (2) investigate the impact of unclassified deaths on the validity of WHO data. Findings indicate that UN and WHO homicide rates (n=56) differ in magnitude, but produce similar outcomes. The UN data produce more robust results and statistical models with less error. The WHO data are more stable and reliable over time, and better suited for longitudinal analyses. Analyses drawing on WHO data should not disregard unclassified deaths because their inclusion provides a more accurate estimate of the true number of homicides.
... Conventional data sources for homicides range from public health resources, such as the WHO, to criminal justice systems (Eurostat, 2022). Yet, common cause of death statistics rarely include any other details on homicide events beyond the count of homicides and a few characteristics of victims, whilst registrations of homicide in the criminal justice system differ significantly per country and are thus incomparable Rogers & Pridemore, 2023;Smit et al., 2012). In an effort to overcome these shortcomings, the European Homicide Monitor (EHM) was established as a joint homicide database. ...
... Specifically, three out of the five countries in our analysis include assaults leading to death in their respective homicide datasets. As this type of legal code usually implies the use of physical force or an object that leads to the death of a victim (Smit et al., 2012), not the lethal shooting with a firearm, we expect no significant impact on the characteristics of firearm homicides. A second shortcoming is the share of unknowns. ...
Article
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Detailed, comparative research on firearm violence in Europe is rare. Using data from the European Homicide Monitor, this paper presents the prevalence and characteristics of firearm homicides in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland between 2001 and 2016. Furthermore, we compare firearm to non-firearm homicides to assess the degree of uniqueness of firearms as modus operandi. We find that the firearm homicide rate varies across our sample of countries. We also identify two country profiles: in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, most firearm homicides take place in public and urban areas, involving male victims and perpetrators. In these countries, the use of firearms in homicides is largely concentrated in the criminal milieu. In Finland and Switzerland, firearms are mostly used in domestic homicides, with a higher share of female victims. We explore these findings in relation to firearm availability in each country.
... Another limitation may be our use of homicide rate as our outcome variable. We used the homicide victimization rate because it is the most reliable measure of crime across nations (Smit, de Jong, & Bijleveld, 2012;Smit, Meijer, & Goroen, 2004). Still, our results may not generalize to other crimes, which do not always strongly covary with homicide rates cross-nationally, and Messner and Rosenfeld did not limit their arguments to violence and homicide. ...
... Small sample sizes are standard in cross-national crime research due to the total number of nations and to missing data for many nations. While it is possible to increase sample size using other homicide data sources, we purposely chose the validity and reliability of the WHO raw homicide data over increasing sample size for its own sake (Smit, de Jong, & Bijleveld, 2012;Smit, Meijer, & Goroen, 2004). Post-hoc power analysis (Cohen, 1988) indicated power was within the acceptable range for all our models. ...
Article
Institutional Anomie Theory (IAT) proposes high violent crime rates are due partially to imbalances in societal institutions, specifically the dominance of the economy over non-economic institutions. Tests of IAT have focused largely on the absolute strength of the economy, which ignores the core argument of institutional imbalance and the possibility that institutional preferences may not be additive and limited. If one institution is strong, it does not mean other institutions are weak. We believe rigorous tests of IAT must include its central concept of relative institutional imbalance. Utilizing the World Values Survey for a sample of 74 nations, we created institutional imbalance ratios for each pairing of the economy with family, education, religion, and polity. We employed multiple regression to determine if our measures of institutional preferences were associated with homicide victimization rates. Results indicated only the Economic:Education institutional imbalance ratio was positively and significantly associated with national homicide rates.
... 9 Apparently different research areas in criminology, including homicide research, have managed to operationally define the subject of their interest, without necessarily embedding it into an overarching definitional or conceptual framework. 10 Such operational definitions in homicide research commonly discuss various aspects of diverse normative concepts (e.g., premeditation, intent, negligence, unlawful abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, infanticide, assault leading to death, reckless driving, justified killings, attempt, or responsibility) and then operationally simply decide on including some and excluding others (Smit et al., 2012). With the BHS, we conceptually did not solve this issue, neither did we much discuss it, except for the issue of attempt. ...
... Second, from a victimological perspective, it would be almost irresponsible not to search for potential protective traits on the side of victims and deescalating situational factors that might explain why some violence turns out deadly whereas other does not. While it is indeed plausible to exclude attempts from homicide statistics, particularly internationally comparable ones (UNODC, 2019a;Smit et al., 2012), homicide research that is based on case analysis should include attempts, just as it should include a wide range of various types of non-homicidal (lethal) violent events, in order to enable the interpretation of findings within their overall violent context. 11 ...
Chapter
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The Balkan Homicide Study (BHS) fills a considerable gap in current European homicide research. Its findings shed first light on the phenomenology of violence in this region of Europe. The BHS provides original empirical data from 2073 prosecution and court case files in six countries: Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Romania, and Slovenia. By analyzing data on 2416 offenders and 2379 victims, the book at hand takes a close look at situational, criminogenic, victimogenic, and procedural characteristics of (lethal) violence in the Balkans. It thus investigates the highly heterogeneous types of different (potentially) deadly situations , thereby focusing on what might make them become deadly and what could be possible protective traits on the side of victims. Such an investigation of pathways into lethal violence becomes possible only if lethal violence (completed homicides) is studied together with non-lethal violence (attempted homicides). This approach however considerably broadens the subject and scope of homicide research, which commonly deals primarily with lethal violence. This chapter provides a brief overview of the pros and cons of such an approach and briefly sketches the study’s background. It also discusses the relevance of the criminal justice’s power to define violence, introduces the Balkan-violence-paradox, and presents the study’s conceptual, as well as terminological framework.
... While WHO often has homicide data available for fewer nations compared with other sources (e.g. United Nations), they are preferred because they are considered the most valid measure of homicide victimization across nations (Smit et al. 2004(Smit et al. , 2012 because WHO enforces a uniform definition of homicide and includes quality checks to ensure the data obtained from nations are valid. ...
... Wolfgang 1967). Unfortunately, when data are available for homicide offenders across nations their validity is questionable because the definition of homicide may vary by nation and data are derived only from offenders who have been arrested (Marshall and Block 2004;Smit et al. 2004Smit et al. , 2012. Thus, our findings may only apply to homicide victimization (and not offending) rates, and we are unable to draw strong conclusions about the efficacy of the age-crime curve because we are not examining criminal offending. ...
Article
Is there an association between the proportion of the population that is young and national homicide rates, and when testing other theories cross-nationally is it necessary to control for this concept? To answer these questions, we carried out an extensive review of the empirical literature and then used data for the years 1999–2004 from a sample of 55 nations to test two predominant hypotheses: Percent young is significantly associated with homicide victimization rates across nations, and percent young accounts for a significant proportion of the overall variance in homicide victimization rates across nations. The results consistently indicated no significant association between percent young and homicide victimization rates across nations. Moreover, including percent young in models of cross-national homicide rates likely has negative ramifications for model fit. We situate these findings within the larger literature and provide a discussion of the implications for future cross-national homicide research.
... All indicators are human constructs and in fact, the definition of the less contested and more widely used homicide indicator also varies by region. 12 Globally, 89 000 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2022. 13 Evidence suggests that globally femicide trends have remained stable. ...
Article
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Introduction Latin America is burdened by high levels of violence. Although boys and men often experience more violence and fatalities, girls and women face a greater risk of being killed by family members or intimate partners due to their gender, a phenomenon known as femicide. Our study estimates femicide rates in Latin America across age groups, examining city-level variations and temporal trends. Methods Utilising data from the Salud Urbana en America Latina project, we analysed mortality data from 343 cities in nine countries between 2000 and 2019. We calculate the variability between and within countries using data from 2015 to 2019. We then describe time trends using femicide counts by year and city and fitting a three-level negative binomial model with a random intercept for country, fixed effects for age categories, and city-level and country-level random slopes for time (scaled to decades). Finally, we assess longitudinal time trends by age by including an interaction term for age and time (scaled to decades). Results Our results highlight substantial heterogeneity in femicide rates within and between countries. Additionally, we find that women 15–29 and 30–44 years of age experience the highest femicide rates across all countries. While our findings suggest a slight decline in femicide rates per additional decade (RR 0.95, 95% CI: 0.74 to 1.24) between 2000 and 2019, the trends diverge in different countries, suggesting increasing rates in some countries like Mexico. Age-specific trends suggest the persistence of higher rates among women 15–29 and 30–44 years of age over time. Conclusion We underscore the need to consider gender dynamics in understanding and preventing femicides, focusing on city-level interventions to address the multifaceted causes of violence against girls and women in the region.
... Looking at a rather straightforward indicator of national research settings in the European Union (EU), such as the R&D expenditure (as % of GDP) in EU member states in 2021, one instantly realises that for example core EHM countries such as Sweden (3.35%), Finland (2.99%) and the Netherlands (2.25%) in all likelihood provide for a far better research setting, than core BHS countries such as Hungary (1.65 %), Croatia (1.24%) and Romania (0.47%), with core EHM countries being well above (or around) the EU average (2.26%), compared to core BHS countries that all fall well below the said EU average. 17 The question, therefore, is neither whether nor how such settings differ, but rather whether and how such difference impacts criminological (homicide) research and to what extent this might be relevant in terms of the knowledge produced. Here with the BHS we obtained valuable insights into all relevant aspects of research operationalisation, whereby we argue that the key aspect is not necessarily (only) the subaverage R&D state expenditure, but rather the informal "working around the official system" when conducting research and securing its funding in a "Balkan Way". ...
Article
The paper critically analyses the methodology and practical aspects of conducting criminological homicide research in Southeast Europe. The analysis is based on two major studies of(lethal) violence: (1) the Balkan Homicide Study – a prosecution and court casefile-based study conducted between 2016 and 2019 in Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, North Macedonia,Romania, and Slovenia, on a total sample of 2,073 cases involving 2,416 offenders and 2,379victims; and (2) the Croatian Violence Monitor – a court casefile-based study conducted between 2021 and 2023 in four major Croatian cities (Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek). The discussion covers key aspects of conceptualising, designing and utilising unique data collection instruments, choice of sampling strategies, data representativeness, normative and statistical context data, as well as practical aspects of empirical fieldwork and data analysis. The aimis to transparently and critically analyse the main conceptual, methodological and practical(dis)advantages of both studies as well as (lethal) violence research more generally. The said discussion is rounded up by presenting preliminary findings on the phenomenology of lethal violence in Croatia based on data from the Croatian Violence Monitor. Thereby we aim not only to contribute to a culturally much more aware criminology of (conducting)homicide research, but also to provide for most recently available original empirical data about the phenomenology of lethal violence. Ultimately, the analysed challenges will also highlight specific regional opportunities for further empirical research in the Balkans with proposals on how these might best be explored in future international and European comparative research undertakings.
... As an example, Scotland provides information on the total number of offenders who perpetrated a homicidal act under the influence of drugs, while Germany releases data about number of homicide perpetrators who were known to be habitual drug users or addicts, regardless of whether they were under the influence when the homicide was committed (De Bont et al. 2018, p. 141). Also, the main international sources of homicides statistics, including WHO, UNODC or Eurostat (at a European level) do not contain statistics regarding DRH (Smit, de Jong and Bijleveld 2012). Thus, comparability of data relative to the drug-relatedness of homicides is an important challenge for researchers. ...
Chapter
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Drugs are generally considered a prominent factor contributing to violent behavior (Caulkins and Kleiman 2011; Collins 1990; EMCDDA and Europol 2016; Ousey and Lee 2007; Varano et al. 2004; Varano and Kuhns 2017). One of the ways in which drugs and violence are linked, is through drugs circulation, which has impacted many communities in various regions throughout the world. One prominent example includes the crack-cocaine epidemic, which is believed to have had a primary role in the increased homicide rates that many US cities experienced in the 1980s and 1990s (Blumstein 1995; Blumstein and Rosenfeld 1998; (Goldstein, Brownstein and Ryan 1992). Elsewhere, too, including in Mexico and Colombia, drug trafficking has been associated with extremely high homicide rates (Duràn-Martinez 2015; Alda 2017). Recently, drug-related violence is gaining attention from public authorities and researchers in Europe to the extent that tackling it has become a security priority for the EU (European Commission 2020). In short, drug-related violence is a global issue and very few places seem to be immune from it. In reflecting on developments in drug-related violence, and methodological issues encountered in studying this phenomenon, we will mostly focus on the European experience.
... Losing a loved one as a result of a violent act, e.g. homicide (i.e. a person killed by another person; Smit et al., 2012), is considered a risk factor for developing bereavement-related psychopathology Kristensen et al., 2012). After non-violent bereavement, a relatively small number of people develop psychological complaints, such as prolonged grief disorder (PGD) (10%; Lundorff et al., 2017), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or depression (12-16% and 22%, respectively; O'Connor, 2010; Onrust & Cuijpers, 2006). ...
Article
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Background: Participating in a criminal trial may increase the likelihood of developing psychopathology. In 2021, people bereaved by a plane disaster (flight MH17) had the opportunity to deliver a victim personal statement (VPS) in Dutch court. Objective: This longitudinal mixed-method study examined different aspects of 84 bereaved people’s experiences with VPS delivery. Method: Motivations to deliver, or not deliver, an oral VPS were examined qualitatively using thematic content analysis. Whether background and loss-related variables were related to the decision to deliver a VPS was examined using binary logistic regression analyses. Between-group (delivered VPS vs. did not) and within-group (pre- vs. post-VPS) comparisons were made regarding prolonged grief disorder (PGD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression levels using t-tests and paired t-tests. Results: Bereaved people were most frequently motivated to deliver an oral VPS to describe the impact of the incident, while those who did not deliver an oral VPS commonly wanted to protect themselves from the perceived emotional burden. None of the correlates – i.e. biological sex, age, level of education, number of losses, and (closest) relationship to the deceased – were related to the decision to deliver a VPS. Lastly, significantly higher PGD, PTSD, and depression levels were reported by people who delivered a VPS than those who did not, before and after the court hearing. No significant within-group differences were found over time. Conclusions: Professionals may provide emotional support to bereaved people who want to deliver a VPS and manage their expectations if they want to deliver a VPS for the purpose of symptom reduction. Future research may benefit from examining other ways in which VPS delivery might have beneficial or detrimental effects for specific individuals. Overall, implementing VPS delivery in court on the basis of emotional restoration remains empirically unsupported, if defined as a reduction in psychopathological levels.
... The inclusion criteria were as follows: articles that (1) were published in a peerreviewed journal; (2) were published in English; (3) included people with schizophrenia, brief psychotic disorders, not otherwise specified (NOS) psychosis, or schizoaffective, schizophreniform, and delusional spectrum disorders diagnosed as per the DSM-IV, DSM-IV-SCID, or DSM-V criteria; (4) included at least one neuropsychological task; and (5) compared at least two groups of patients, one of which comprised patients with a history of suicide attempts (defined as any act carried out with a certain intent to die or to put one's life in danger [37]), or suicidal ideation (defined as a range of contemplations, wishes, and preoccupations related to death and suicide [38]), or with a history of homicide (when there is a dead person and the cause of death can be attributed to another person [39]), or violence (violent acts committed against others which cause or are intended to cause physical harm to the victim [40]). ...
Article
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Suicide and homicide are considered important problems in public health. This study aims to identify the cognitive performance of suicidal and homicidal behaviors in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, as well as examining whether there are shared neuropsychological mechanisms. A systematic review of the recent literature was carried out from September 2012 to June 2022 using the Medline (via PubMed), Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane databases. Among the 870 studies initially identified, 23 were finally selected (15 related to suicidal behaviors and 8 to homicidal behaviors). The results evidenced a relationship between impairment of cognitive performance and homicidal behavior; meanwhile, for suicidal behaviors, no consistent results were found. High neuropsychological performance seems to act as a protective factor against violent behavior in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, but not against suicidal behavior; indeed, it can even act as a risk factor for suicidal behavior. To date, there is insufficient evidence that shared neurocognitive mechanisms exist. However, processing speed and visual memory seem to be affected in the presence of both behaviors.
... Homicide is generally considered the most serious of all crimes (Smit et al., 2012) and according to this line of reasoning, constitutes the "tip of the iceberg" of underlying crime. As such, homicide is frequently used as an indicator of the level of violence in cross-national and historical studies. ...
Conference Paper
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Homicide is generally considered the most serious of all crimes and according to this line of reasoning, constitutes the "tip of the iceberg" of underlying crime. As such, homicide is frequently used as an indicator of the level of violence in cross-national and historical studies. The same could be said for drug-related homicide, specifically. Many drug-related violent incidents remain unreported-including torture, physical assault, threats and so on. In the absence of a full picture of the level of drug-related violence, it can be necessary to use other related indicators for which data is more readily available, such as drug-related homicide (DRH). From this perspective, DRH would form a lethal tip of the iceberg of underlying drug-related criminal violence, which in turn could be an indicator of underlying drug market activity. If we indeed consider drug-related homicide as a tip of the iceberg of underlying criminal violence, then we would expect such homicides to cluster together in time and space with other types of criminal violence-in particular firearm-related homicides and other, non-lethal firearm incidents. In this working paper we seek to assess to what extent DRH cluster together with firearm- related violence and whether these forms of violence could be used as indicators of underling drug crime.
... Homicide is generally considered the most serious of all crimes (Smit et al., 2012), and according to some, it constitutes the "tip of the iceberg" of underlying crime. In this view, homicide is the end result of lesser forms of crimes, such as robberies, rapes, and thefts (Ouimet & Montmagny-Grenier, 2014). ...
Chapter
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The past decade has seen a substantial growth of scholarly work on European homicide, combined with initiatives to systematically gather homicide data on a pan-European level. In this contribution, I will reflect on these initiatives, in particular on the construction of the European Homicide Monitor (EHM) and how it relates to other initiatives, such as the Balkan Homicide Study (BHS) described in the book at hand. To put initiatives such as the EHM and the BHS into empirical perspective, this contribution also provides an outline of prior and current research on homicide in Europe. Finally, I will reflect on some of the unique challenges that surround the empirical assessment of homicide in the Balkans.
... 133) by noting that on balance, the WHO data "probably represent the most valid option for researchers interested in studying cross-national homicide." Indeed, INTERPOL stopped making its crime data publicly available in 2006 (Smit et al. 2012). ...
Article
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The contributors to this inaugural issue of International Criminology were asked to reflect on the present state of comparative criminology and to speculate on whether it will become more prominent in the future. Progress in developing a coherent research specialization in international criminology over the past half-century has been uneven, with some elements making more rapid progress than others. There have also been surprises, as well as disappointments. In this article, I briefly consider the modern history of efforts to develop a comparative study of criminology. I focus on cross-national comparative research which is largely quantitative. I look at the development of this research by considering its progress along six fronts: (1) developing larger, more representative samples; (2) developing more refined theoretical conceptual schemes; (3) applying more sophisticated research methods; (4) developing new international crime data sources; (5) building longitudinal models; and (6) engaging global organizations in support. I conclude with some general observations.
... Even though there are difficulties compiling and processing these homicide data ( Goldstein, Brownstein, & Ryan, 1992 ) -establishing drug links in homicide cases requires a detailed analysis of the case files -establishing such links for other types of violent crime is at least as challenging. Simply put, there is more, and usually better and more reliable information available on homicide than on most other violent crimes ( Smit, de Jong, & Bijleveld, 2012 ) and the number of homicides in Europe is such that review and analysis are relatively feasible (at 3993 cases for the EU in 2018, Eurostat, 2020 ). Data from a pilot study in the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden indicated that homicides stemming from the functioning of the drug market (systemic as per Goldstein, 1985 ) is a significant phenomenon and more likely to involve the use of firearms than other types of homicide ( EMCDDA, 2019 ). ...
... Additionally, when researchers attempt to analyse homicide trends in Malta one can notice that the results obtained from these islands is very limited. For instance, Smit, de Jong and Bijleveld (2012) explained that Malta was one of few countries that did not respond to their questionnaire which was aimed at looking at the definitions, sources and statistics of homicide data in Europe. Being a small island state Malta is sometimes excluded from the analysis of homicide trends among European nations for pragmatic reasons (Marshall and Summers, 2012: 42). ...
Article
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Homicide in Malta is not a common crime. Till the present day there is no academic research that inquires the trends associated with this heinous act. After analysing aspects related to homicide committed between 1970 till the latest in 2018, the paper aims at providing the first findings on homicide trends in the islands of Malta. The findings aim at providing the significant statistical outcomes related to homicide trends particularly in relation to the modus operandi, gender, relationship between the offender and homicide clearance.
... While other sources provide more years of information, we utilized the WHO mortality database because of (1) issues with how the Global Status Report estimates homicide victimization for nations with missing data (Kanis et al., 2017) and (2) issues with definitional differences in homicide across nations present in United Nations data (Smit et al., 2012). 3 Overall, the small sample size is not that troubling for two reasons. ...
Article
Gender inequality is a central concept in cross-national feminist criminological literature. There is not a readily agreed-upon operationalization of gender inequality. The variation in the operationalization of gender inequality in cross-national research could be the cause for the inconsistent findings. We explored if the operationalization of gender inequality affects the association of the variables with gender-specific homicide across nations. Utilizing SUR and Wald Tests, our results indicate that measurement matters. When a measure of gender inequality includes an income competent, it has an association with gender-specific homicide. We conclude by situating our findings into the larger cross-national literature.
... Yet, official definitions of homicide are less universal than this simple term may suggest. The most common understanding of homicide includes the two attributes "intentional" and "unlawful" (UNODC, 2014;Smit, de Jong & Bijleveld, 2012). This definition excludes non-intentional killings as road traffic deaths as well as lawful killings as judicial executions or justifiable self-defense (Alvazzi del Frate, Mugellini, Pavesi & Karimova, 2012). ...
... The WHO collects annual data on country-level mortality by cause of death since the 1950s. Mortality data are primarily sourced from death certificates recorded by medical professionals (Smit, De Jong, & Bijleveld, 2012). Causes of deaths are defined in accordance to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), a standardized and international system for the classification of deaths by cause. ...
Chapter
Purpose – This chapter explains what is known about international homicide trends, highlights gaps in existing literature, and proposes avenues for future research that will expand understanding about international homicide. Design/methodology/approach – We review extant literature on international homicide trends, and draw on data from the World Health Organization from 1990 to 2015 to identify patterns in contemporary international homicide trends. Findings – We demonstrate evidence of an international homicide drop across most regions around the world. Nonetheless, the homicide decline is not a global event as several countries – particularly countries with high homicide rates – did not experience reductions in homicide during this period. The key question remains as to what the causes of changes in international homicide rates are and why many countries experience very similar reductions in homicide while a few experienced increasing violence. We propose potential explanations and suggest areas for future research. Originality/value – This chapter documents an international homicide decline occurring between 1990 and 2015. We also demonstrate that homicide trends are likely influenced by factors beyond local phenomena and domestic policies since homicide rates largely track together for regions throughout the world. Accordingly, the chapter suggests potential avenues for future research that can help better explain this trend.
... different units of analyses) (e.g. Smit et al., 2012). To address these issues, a consortium of three European countries constructed a joint homicide database entitled the European Homicide Monitor (EHM). ...
Technical Report
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Following up on the findings of providing an overview of DRH data, this report outlines a proposal for long-term EU-level monitoring of DRH. The report recommends to explore the possibilities of including DHR variables into the already existing European Homicide Monitor framework.
... Cross-national variation in homicide may not be representative of variation in other violent crimes (Aebi and Linde, 2012;Lynch & Pridemore, 2010) and so our results may be generalizable only to homicide. Compared with data on other crime types, however, homicide victimization data are the most reliable and available data for a larger number of nations (Smit et al., 2012). Further, legal definitions of non-lethal violent crimes vary by nation, which makes it difficult to compare outcomes across nations. ...
Article
We explored the cross-national association between population-level alcohol consumption and homicide victimization rates. The very few prior studies of this association had small homogeneous sample sizes and usually tested only for a linear effect, ignoring other commonly hypothesized explanations. We employed a cross-sectional design, with data from 83 nations, and controlled for several possible covariates. We used exploratory data analysis, weighted least squares regression, and piecewise regression to model total, male, and female homicide victimization rates. We tested for linear effects of total per capita consumption, threshold effects, effects due to risky drinking patterns, and beverage-specific effects of per capita beer, wine, and spirits consumption. We found cross-national homicide rates were not sensitive to threshold effects and nations with riskier drinking patterns did not have higher homicide rates than nations with less risky drinking patterns. Results showed total per capita alcohol consumption was associated with total, male, and female homicide rates, though this association concealed beverage-specific effects. Per capita beer and spirits consumption was positively and significantly associated with total, male, and female homicide victimization rates, whereas our findings suggested per capita wine consumption might be negatively associated with homicide rates. The impact of alcohol consumption on cross-national homicide rates is understudied relative to other population health outcomes, and the few prior analyses did not test the four most common explanations of a possible association. Our findings provide an important contribution to better understanding this complicated relationship.
... 2 More generally, Barlow and Barlow (1988) showed how emergency service response times were correlated with aggravated assaults and homicides in such a way that death rates fell substantially (from 20% to 4%) when the patient received care within 20 min subsequent to the attack. The importance of emergency services response times has been highlighted by several authors (e.g., Granath, 2012, Smit et al. 2012. Indeed, this kind of indicator has a relatively longstanding tradition in criminology. ...
Article
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This paper addresses whether improvements in healthcare that have taken place since the second half of the twentieth century have contributed to a decrease in the number of homicide victims in Germany. Our study accessed data on healthcare medical resources, mortality, and life expectancy primarily from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Health Statistics, as well crime data from Interpol’s International Crime Statistics and the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics. The results corroborate the hypothesis when the analysis takes into consideration a time span of more than half a century and remains plausible when it covers the last two decades.
... Cause-of-death (COD) data are generally superior to criminal justice data as a source for this type of homicide studies; for example, the definition of intentional homicide is based on fairly similar definitions all over the world (Aebi and Linde 2012). However, also COD data have their own problems (Aebi and Linde 2012;Smit et al. 2012;Trent and Pridemore 2012). 3 National studies indicate that there can be substantial differences in the reliability of COD statistics even in Europe (where both COD and criminal justice statics are generally of relatively good quality). ...
Chapter
Most large scale comparative studies on homicide analyses total victimisation rates. Well-known exceptions include historical data-series from Veli Verkko, which showed that the higher the level of violence, the smaller the share of female victims and perpetrators. Consequently also the increases and decreases in lethal violence touch more male victims and perpetrators than female victims and perpetrators. This chapter tests these hypotheses and discusses the current differences in male and female homicide mortality levels with the most extensive available data today. The contribution draws a detailed picture of female and male homicide trends across regions and countries from 1950 to 2010. It furthermore explores the associations between femicide and homicide rates and female-male victimisation ratios and different socio-economic, political and cultural factors.
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The main goal of this study is to reconsider violence in Western Balkan countries (WBC) compared to global and European averages, questioning negative stereotypes about the Balkan peoples. By examining recent homicide rate data, a widely accepted indicator, the paper positions violence rates in WBC relative to these benchmarks. Additionally, it investigates socioeconomic and cultural factors contributing to variations in homicide rates, analysing elements such as poverty, social inequality, unemployment, and the Global Peace Index. The present study also addresses other forms of violence, including femicide and organized crime rates. Furthermore, it explores the cultural context, particularly the declining influence of the traditional culture of honour historically associated with blood feuds in the pastoral regions of the WBC. This comprehensive approach aims to foster a nuanced understanding of the relationship between sociocultural factors and regional violence.
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The aim of the present study is to examine the links between high intentional homicide rates and alcohol abuse in the context of social transition in Lithuania. According to the extant literature, both the increase in homicide rates and the increase in alcohol abuse have a negative impact on public health and are often associated with challenges at the macrosocial level. In recent decades, Lithuania has experienced substantial political, economic, and social transformations. Lithuanian society has transitioned from a Soviet regime to embrace the Western principles of liberal democracy. Yet, despite positive political and economic progress, Lithuania remains a country with one of the highest homicide and alcohol-related harm rates in the European Union. These characteristics have made the Lithuanian homicide situation a captivating topic for a range of international and national studies, expert analyses, and evaluations. Unfortunately, the lack of reliable and consistent data on homicide continues to obstruct researchers from delving deeper into the analysis and explanation of the homicide phenomenon in Lithuania. To mitigate this issue, in this work, we present thoroughly collected and processed historical data on intentional homicide trends from 1961 to 2022. We also examine changes in the rate of homicide suspects, including their socio-demographic characteristics and alcohol intoxication for the 2004–2022 period. Finally, we investigate changes in homicide mortality rates and homicide victims’ socio-demographic characteristics. Our analyses are based on data sourced from the Lithuanian Special Archives, as well as national and international databases of crime statistics and demographic data. We noted a continuous decline in intentional homicide rates after the steep increase in 1989–1994. Furthermore, between 2004 and 2022, more than half of intentional homicide suspects were under the influence of alcohol. These findings are discussed in the broader context of societal changes in Lithuania.
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Homicide statistics are often used as an indicator for violent crime more generally. In this work, we evaluate the empirical support for this convention in a Western European context, specifically the Netherlands. Using data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and from the Dutch Homicide Monitor, we compare homicide rates to rates of other violent crimes between 2010 and 2020. Results show that homicide and violent crimes are related in a general sense, but it is difficult to say what those relationships look like concretely. In other words, there is an empirical relationship between homicide and the overarching concept of violent crime, but relationships between homicide and individual violent crimes vary considerably. Based on these findings, we advise that researchers tread carefully when using homicide as an indicator of violent crime.
Book
The study of terrorism represents one of the major turning points in criminology of the twenty-first century. In the space of just two decades, research on terrorism and political extremism went from a relatively uncommon niche to a widely recognized criminological specialization. Terrorism research now appears in nearly all mainstream criminology journals; college courses on terrorism and political violence have been added to the curricula of most criminology departments; and a growing number of criminology students are choosing terrorism as a suitable topic for class papers, research topics, theses and dissertations. The purpose of this book is to explore similarities and differences between terrorism and more ordinary forms of crime. This Element considers the ways that criminology has contributed to the study of terrorism and the impact the increasing interest in terrorism has had on criminology. This Element also provides empirical comparisons of terrorist attacks to more ordinary crimes and criminal offenders. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
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We argue that cross-national variability in homicide rates is strongly influenced by state history. Populations living within a state are habituated, over time, to settling conflicts through regularized, institutional channels rather than personal violence. Because these are gradual and long-term processes, present-day countries composed of citizens whose ancestors experienced a degree of “state-ness” in previous centuries should experience fewer homicides today. To test this proposition, we adopt an ancestry-adjusted measure of state history that extends back to 0 CE. Cross-country analyses show a sizeable and robust relationship between this index and lower homicide rates. The result holds when using various measures of state history and homicide rates, sets of controls, samples, and estimators. We also find indicative evidence that state history relates to present levels of other forms of personal violence. Tests of plausible mechanisms suggest state history is linked to homicide rates via the law-abidingness of citizens. We find less support for alternative channels such as economic development or current state capacity.
Article
The number of cross-national homicide studies is increasing rapidly. Many scholars, however, do not consider the details of how individual nations and the four main centralized homicide data sources – raw estimates from World Health Organization (WHO) Mortality Database, adjusted estimates from WHO Global Health Observatory, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Bank World Development Indicators – generate national homicide rates and the impact this may have on results and on the existing scientific record. We tested if homicide trends, levels, and structural covariates are dependent on data source. We used 1990-2018 data in 5-year groupings and pooled over time and nation. We utilized exploratory data analysis techniques to look for differences in homicide rates and trends. Then we employed Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) to determine if associations with homicide of typical structural covariates were dependent on homicide data source. Finally, we examined Wald Tests to determine if differences in the sizes of the SUR coefficients from each data source were significantly different from zero. We found differences in homicide trends and rates by data source, and that associations with homicide rates of structural covariates varied in significance, magnitude, and even direction depending on homicide data source. Cross-national homicide research has a promising future for understanding short- and long-term global and regional trends, population-level covariates, and constructing theoretical explanations for geographical and temporal variation. However, researchers must better understand how national homicide data are generated by nations and by these four data sources. All four systems possess limitations, but homicide data from the World Health Organization’s Mortality Database present the most attractive option.
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Paz y Justicia is an innovative programme in which a civil society organisation conducts criminal investigations of homicides in high-incidence communities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, taking on a characteristic role of the State. The objective of this article is to understand how the programme works and to evaluate its impact. The evaluation design is based on control groups with similar homicide rates and socio-economic indicators as the intervened areas. Given the lack of reliable data to calculate indictment and conviction rates, the incidence of homicides is considered as the only dependent variable. Qualitative data were also gathered, through semi-structured interviews and field visits, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the programme. The impact evaluation reveals that Paz y Justicia can reduce homicides in the areas in which it operates, but this effect is not universal. The article discusses possible mechanisms to explain these results.
Chapter
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This chapter provides indispensable insights into the BHS research design and its practical operationalization. The chapter’s leitmotiv is that there is no perfect empirical violence research – with each study we come a bit closer to revealing few of the many unknowns of (lethal) violence, while making valuable mistakes that open new lines of research. In that sense, the most meaningful way of handling the methodological and practical imperfections of the BHS is to be transparent and objective about the crucial “whys and hows” of its research design. After explaining the study’s two core objectives, the main methodological decisions and challenges will be presented. This includes various aspects of designing and using a unique instrument for data collection, sampling strategies, data representativeness, normative and statistical context, as well as field work and data analysis challenges. The chapter’s aim is to realistically depict all the methodological ups and downs of the BHS. It will equip readers with all the necessary information needed to arrive at own, potentially even divergent, conclusions on the study’s first findings.
Book
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This book chronicles key contemporary developments in the social scientific study of various types of male-to-female abuse in rural places and suggests new directions in research, theory, and policy. The main objective of this book is not to simply provide a dry recitation of the extant literature on the abuse of rural women in private places. To be sure, this material is covered, but rural women’s experiences of crimes of the powerful like genocidal rape and corporate violence against female employees are also examined. Written by a celebrated expert on the subject, this book considers woman abuse in a broad context, covering forms of violence such as physical and sexual assault, coercive control, genocidal rape, abortion bans, forced pregnancy, and corporate forms of violence. It offers a broad research agenda that examines the multidimensional nature of violence against rural women. Drawing on decades of work in the shelter movement, with activist organizations and doing academic and government research, DeKeseredy punctuates the book with stories and voices of perpetrators and survivors of abuse. Additionally, what makes this book unique is that it focuses on the plight of rural women around the world and it introduces a modified version of Liz Kelly’s original continuum of sexual violence. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, women’s studies, cultural studies, policing, geography, and all those interested in learning about the abuse women face in rural areas.
Article
Background Many studies have established a correlation between the increase of homicide rates, and economic crises and rapid social changes following historical events. We propose to analyse the impact of the Tunisian Revolution on homicide rates in Tunisia in a clinical population. Methods We conducted a retrospective comparative study of all individuals who commited an homicide and were admitted, at least once, to the forensic psychiatry unit in Razi Hospital between January 1st, 2004 and December 31st, 2018 after a decision of irresponsibility by reason of insanity. Results The number of homicides committed by the individuals with mental illness included in our study was multiplied by a factor of 1.3 after the revolution, with a prevalence of 11.0% between 2004 and 2011, compared to a prevalence of 14.7% during the period 2011–2018. No significant difference was noted between the two groups regarding the socio-demographic characteristics or the characteristics of the act committed. Conclusion Our results highlighted that political and socio-economic crises following the Tunisian revolution significantly contributed to an increase of homicide rates in people with severe mental illness. Thus, macro-level socioeconomic determinants would be important to consider in homicide prevention strategies.
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This paper studies trends in female homicide victimization in Spain from 1910 to 2014 and puts them in relation with several indicators of the evolution of women’s roles and status in the society. According to mortality statistics, female homicide victimization followed an overall upward trend interrupted only during the periods in which the country lived under dictatorships. Measures of women’s roles and status in society show a change from traditional to non-traditional roles since the 1960s. A multivariate autoregression analysis suggests that the female homicide victimization trend is correlated mainly with opportunity-based and non-gender sensitive variables.
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Objectives: People's views regarding autopsy vary according to their cultural and religious beliefs. This paper aims to determine the opinions towards this procedure among Muslims resident in Libya and Muslims and non-Muslims resident in the UK. Our long-term goal is to improve autopsy rates; whether conventional or through the use of post-mortem imaging. Methods: 400 questionnaires were distributed to the three communities, interrogating belief about post-mortem investigations. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric statistics were used to analyse the data. Results: Of the 400 distributed questionnaires, there was a high return rate of 320 (80%). All groups felt that children should be buried sooner than adults (p<0.001) but 77% of Libyan Muslims thought that children should be buried within 12 hours of death compared to 16% of UK Muslims and only 7% of UK non-Muslims (p < 0.001). More non-Muslims were unconcerned about a negative impact of traditional autopsy on the dignity of the corpse than Muslims (p < 0.001) and more Muslims responded that autopsy has a negative emotional effect on the family (p < 0.001). Type of death altered what sort of investigations were desired. In the case of homicide, Libyan Muslims were less likely to prefer CT (p<0.001) or MRI (p=0.001). Sex had no effect on the results of the survey. Conclusion: Post-mortem imaging is acceptable to both Muslims and non-Muslims in Libya and the UK, but Muslims have a significant preference for post-mortem imaging compared to autopsy, except in homicidal cases. Advances in knowledge: (1) The ability of post-mortem imaging to preserve the dignity of the corpse is independent of religion, however significantly more Muslims feel that autopsy has a negative emotional effect on the family of the deceased. (2) A significant majority of Muslims in Libya prefer to bury children within 12 hours of death, while a delay of up to a week is acceptable in the UK. (3) Muslims resident in the UK have an attitude closer to that of the indigenous (non-Muslim) population and therefore educational programmes may be successful in changing attitudes of Muslims in Libya and other predominantly Muslim countries.
Article
Substantial variation in national crime rates suggests social structure and cultural context influence offending and victimization. Several prominent criminological theories anticipate a positive association between the prevalence of cash in a society and its rates of pecuniary crime. We examined the association between one form of “cashlessness” and national robbery rates across nations (n = 67), controlling for several structural covariates of national crime rates. We obtained data on robbery from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and data on government-based cashlessness from the Global Financial Inclusion Database. We found nations with higher levels of government-based cashlessness had lower robbery rates (β = -0.41, p = .02). We also undertook several sensitivity analyses, including tests for a relationship with commercial cashlessness and for crimes like homicide and burglary. Our results suggest technological advancements that reduce cash in a society may have implications for a nation’s robbery rates.
Article
Homicide rate in Lithuania between 2004 and 2013 decreased and reached an average of 6.7 per 100,000 people in 2013. The data regarding forensic autopsies of intentional homicide victims were obtained from the State Forensic Medicine Service. Spearman's correlation test was used to assess trends in the homicide rates. A significant correlation was observed between homicide distribution and the following variables: Lithuania's gross domestic product (r = -0.85, p = 0.003), the number of alcohol intoxication cases of victims (r = 0.97, p < 0.05). After regression model adjustments, these variables remained significantly associated with the homicide distribution (p < 0.05). 73% of victims were men, with a mean age of 45.5 ± 15. Alcohol intoxication was present in 58% of victims. 66% of homicides were carried out indoors, 57% in urban area. The presented findings help decide which prevention programs may be the most effective in homicide rate reduction.
Chapter
There are many challenges when conducting European cross-national research on homicide. In particular, it has been hampered for a long time because European countries tend to differ in the data sources they used and in their definitions of homicide. To stimulate cross-national research efforts in Europe, this chapter compares the characteristics of homicides in Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden. More specifically, in a three-year research project, financed by the European Union, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden joined forces to build a first joint database on homicide in Europe, referred to as the European Homicide Monitor, EHM. This Monitor exclusively contains data from the three countries on 1,577 homicide cases, involving 1,666 victims and 1,917 offenders. On the basis of these data, first findings indicate evidence of cross-national differences between Finnish, Dutch and Swedish homicides, and especially in (a) the average homicide rate, (b) location of homicides, (c) offenders’ modus operandi, (d) the average age of homicide victims and offenders, and (e) the birth country of offenders and victims. Although this chapter shows that building a joint European Monitor is feasible, it also indicates that several methodological issues still exist when conducting cross-national research on homicide.
Chapter
In this chapter we describe regional and national homicide variation, exploring both geographic and temporal trends in homicide victimization across nations. For each region – Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America – we discuss overall, male-, and female- specific homicide trends from approximately 1979 to 2010. Our discussion is descriptive in nature. We do not speculate about the reasons for higher or lower homicide rates in regions or nations relative to others and changes in homicide rates over time in regions or nations, as these questions are empirical in nature. Instead, we provide initial observations of geographic and temporal variation that will hopefully lead others to generate and test hypotheses meant to explain this variation.
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Europe does not have a long tradition of studying the trends, patterns and explanations of homicide. Recent initiatives, however, have begun to systematically address homicide and homicide research in Europe. This contribution builds on these new developments, providing an overview of contemporary homicide research in Europe, by addressing (1) an overview of prior and current research on homicide in Europe; (2) a description of the geographical and historical variation of homicide throughout the European continent; and (3) ways in which future research may contribute in moving forward the field of European homicide research.
Article
Across six studies, people judged creative forms of unethical behavior to be less unethical than less creative forms of unethical behavior, particularly when the unethical behaviors imposed relatively little direct harm on victims. As a result of perceiving behaviors to be less unethical, people punished highly creative forms of unethical behavior less severely than they punished less-creative forms of unethical behavior. They were also more likely to emulate the behavior themselves. The findings contribute to theory by showing that perceptions of competence can positively color morality judgments, even when the competence displayed stems from committing an unethical act. The findings are the first to show that people are judged as morally better for performing bad deeds well as compared to performing bad deeds poorly. Moreover, the results illuminate how the characteristics of an unethical behavior can interact to influence the emulation and diffusion of that behavior.
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Objective Human trafficking has generated growing concern among both policy makers and researchers. However, research has been hampered by a lack of valid data and appropriate methods. Our study attempts to improve understanding of this issue by developing a macro-level social disorganization perspective which suggests that trade openness may be an important vector of human trafficking such that countries in transition between high and low levels are likely to face major challenges in controlling trafficking and will therefore be especially likely to experience high rates. Our analysis is based on United Nations panel data containing 163 time points for 43 countries from 2003 to 2008 where there is full information across the variables of interest. Methods The study first relies on semi-parametric fixed effects regression estimators to determine the “true” functional form of the relationship between trade openness and human trafficking. Next, we utilize random and fixed effects regression analysis and negative binomial regression analysis to assess the existence of an inverted U-relationship between trade openness and human trafficking. Results Consistent with our theoretical prediction, the spline approximation of the relationship between trade openness and human trafficking rates exhibits a clear inverted-U. The random and fixed effects regression results support the same conclusion. The turning point is estimated to be 1.995 and two sensitivity analyses confirm this finding through a parametric and a nonparametric bootstrap method with replications. Finally, using negative binomial and fixed effects negative binomial regressions, we again confirm that there is an inverted-U relationship between trade openness and human trafficking counts. Conclusions In line with a macro-level social disorganization perspective we argue that countries with relatively weak social control will have high rates of crime and deviance. We operationalize social control in terms of the openness of a country’s trade to the international community and as expected we find a curvilinear relationship between levels of trade openness and human trafficking.
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Seksuele doding wordt breed uitgemeten in de media, en leidt vaak tot hevige maatschappelijke reacties. Toch vormt seksuele doding slechts drie tot vijf procent van het totaal aantal opgeloste dodingen, wat neerkomt op ongeveer vijf tot tien zaken per jaar. Hoewel sinds een aantal decennia op internationaal gebied wetenschappelijke aandacht aan dit onderwerp wordt besteed, is dergelijk onderzoek in Nederland zeer schaars. Zo is er tot op heden geen duidelijk wetenschappelijk overzicht van de aard en incidentie van seksuele doding in ons land.
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An Overview of Publicly Available Quantitative Cross-National Crime Data
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Combining data on offences known to the police and metadata on the rules applied by European countries to produce their criminal statistics, this article shows how the counting rules used to collect data for police statistics in each country affect the outcome of such statistics and constitute one of the main explanations of cross-national differences in levels of recorded crime. In particular, a comparison of crime rates shows that the group of countries that records offences when they are reported to the police presents higher crime rates than the group of countries that records offences when the police have completed the investigation.
Article
This article looks at the availability of data on convictions and on sanctions and measures in European countries, on the basis of the European Sourcebook data. It emphasises the limitations in the use that can currently be made of this data, although it has a wide potential in helping to understand criminal justice policy. The differences are, for instance, to be found in offence definitions, statistical rules, and political changes. Moreover the data collection for the Sourcebook on the four categories of sanctions/measures (fines, non-custodial sentences, suspended custodial sentences and unsuspended custodial sentences) was sometimes difficult. Attention is paid to the information collected, the comparability and, as an illustration, to three specific offences (completed homicide, rape and all thefts). The conclusion is that wide differences exist in the level of convictions found and the use of sanctions by the courts. Such differences will reflect both different levels of criminality, diversion away from the courts but also different recording practices. However, even with these caveats what is available does provide a useful starting point in identifying countries on which further research may be carried out.
Article
Because the number of countries in the world is relatively small comparedwith other data sets, missing data present a major problem in cross-national homicide research. This article illustrates how missing data problems in comparative homicide research may be addressed by composite measures. Indexes such as the International Homicide Index, which takes advantage of multiple data sources on homicide, not only maximize thenumber of countries represented by the indicator but also produce a more parsimonious and robust measure of lethal violence levels across nations. In addition, the combination of multiple indicators in a single index provides checks and balances on data quality, minimizing the influence of poor-quality data and maximizing the influence of valid and reliable data. This article reviews the history and details the method of creating the International Homicide Index.
Article
The findings of a survey of all homicides in 1998 in the Netherlands are briefly presented. After describing characteristics of the incident, the offender, and the victim, multivariate relations between these characteristics are investigated. It appears that homicide cases are structured in an interpretable way in which a previous classification can be accommodated. The analysis, however, also indicates that homicide types do not constitute distinct groups but instead rank along a circular continuum.
Article
There has been little systematic information presented about homicides in the Netherlands. To address this scarcity of literature, an exploratory, descriptive survey of all homicides in 1998 in the Netherlands is presented. Following the tradition of classic U.S. studies, characteristics of offenders, victims, and characteristics of homicide incidents are presented. After a description of the characteristics of the incident, the offender, and the victim, a number of relations between these characteristics are investigated. Suggestions are made for future research, especially complex analyses to determine more precise, and perhaps more meaningful, descriptions of homicide types.
Article
This study compared crime rates of the United States with those of other countries for whom statistics were available: European countries, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Statistics were provided by the United Nations for homicide, rape, robbery, burglary, and theft; the International Police Organization (Interpol) for homicide, rape, robbery, burglary, and auto theft, and the World Health Organization (WHO) for homicide. Based on these statistics, the rate of violent crime in the United States was found to be several times higher than the rates in other countries for which information was available. The rate of property crime in the United Staes was also higher than in the majority of these countries. Crimes of violence (homicide, rape, and robbery) were 4-9 times more frequent in the United States than they were in Europe; crimes of theft (burglary, theft, auto theft) were also more frequent, but not to the same degree. Between 1980 and 1984 the difference between crime rates for the United States and for other countries narrowed because the United States' rate decreased while other countries' rates increased. Crime rates from country to country were difficult to compare because of differences in criminal justice systems, in definitions of crime, in crime reporting practices and recordkeeping, and in methods of reporting statistics to international agencies. To reduce this variability, more than one data source was used whenever possible and European countries were averaged together, as were Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. (Twelve tables provide statistics for particular crimes in selected countries.) (ABL)
Article
In this article, homicides in France are examined and framed within an international context. Homicide, given its association with other forms of criminality and delinquency, is an excellent index to employ in examining rates of increase in violent acts in France. Homicides in France often occur in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods. However, minors are infrequently implicated in homicides. Several factors are proposed to explain the relatively low rate of homicides in France. Finally, France's penal response to homicide is examined in terms of its potential braking effect on the rate of homicides committed. Accounting for the overall pattern of delinquency and criminality within an international context, it could be hypothesized that in France, relative to other nations, forms of violent delinquency have taken the place of homicidal acts.
Article
Main points Absolute comparisons between recorded crime levels in countries may be misleading; therefore, only comparisons of trends are normally made in this Bulletin. Information collected for 1998 from 29 countries indicated that: • Recorded crime rose on average by 5% compared with a fall of 1% in England & Wales. • England & Wales had one of the lowest homicide rates in Western Europe and London had a below average rate. • Violent crime recorded by the police rose by 2% on average compared with a fall of 6 % in England & Wales. • Domestic burglaries recorded by the police fell by 1% on average compared with a fall of 6% in England & Wales. • Thefts of motor vehicles recorded by the police rose by 3% on average compared with a fall of 2% in England & Wales. • Drug trafficking offences recorded by the police rose by 7% on average compared with a 9% fall in England & Wales. • A study by the Council of Europe covering 9 European countries (including all parts of the United Kingdom) for selected offences, showed that, in 1995, England & Wales (after Portugal) tended to sentence offenders to the longest terms of imprisonment. However, the use of custody as a sentencing option in England & Wales was found to be similar to that in the majority of the other countries. • The prison population rate in England & Wales (at 126 prisoners per 100,000 general population in 1998) was the highest per capita rate in Western Europe (apart from Portugal (144)). This rate was, however, well below that found in the USA (668) and some Eastern European countries (Russia (690) and the Czech Republic (215)).
Article
This study investigates the question of reliability among four widely used cross-national data sets by constructing an error framework that relates types of errors to uses of the data. The findings indicate that (1) for nation-by-nation point estimation, the four data sets differ by varying degrees, (2) for aggregate point estimation in cross-sectional descriptive and longitudinal descriptive studies, they are statistically similar, and (3) for analytic or explanatory cross-sectional purposes, they yield statistically and substantively similar results. In short, for studies seeking aggregate descriptions of world crime or analytic explanations of cross-national crime rates, differences in the data sets do not make a difference in the results.
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Both the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Mortality System and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting System measure the numbers and characteristics of homicide in the United States. There are important differences, however, in both the substance and the quality of the information that the two systems collect. The NCHS mortality system reported an average of 9 percent more homicides nationally than did the FBI crime reporting system during the 1976-82 period. Variations did occur in the average ratios of the frequencies of homicides reported by the two systems across age, race, and sex subgroups and geographic areas. The major source of the ascertainment difference between the NCHS and the FBI systems is thought to be incomplete voluntary reporting to the FBI by participating law enforcement agencies and lack of reporting by nonparticipating agencies. The proportions of homicides among corresponding demographic categories in the two systems is remarkably similar despite the difference in ascertainment. This congruence of the distributions of reported homicides supports the idea that inferences drawn from analysis of variables in one of these systems will be valid for the population reported on by the other system.
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