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Date: April 19, 2024 Fri
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Results for homicide
89 results foundAuthor: Weiner, David A. Title: The Effects of School Desegregation on Crime Summary: This paper estimate the effects of court-ordered school desegregation on crime by exploiting plausibly random variation in the timing of when these orders go into effect across the set of large urban school districts ever subject of such orders. The estimates made by the authors imply that imposition of these court orders in the nation's largest school districts lowered the homicide rate to black teens and young adults nationwide by around 13 percent, and might account for around one-quarter of the convergence in black-white homicide rates over the period from 1970 to 1980. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2009 Source: NBER Working Paper Series; Working Paper Series 15380 Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 116373 Keywords: African-AmericansHomicideJuveniles |
Author: Neistat, Anna Title: "You can die any time": Death Squad Killings in Mindanao Summary: This report provides an anatomy of death squad operations. It is based on our investigations of 28 killings, 18 of which took place in 2007 and 2008. The victims include children as young as 14. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2009 Source: Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 114622 Keywords: HomicidePhilippinesViolent Offenders |
Author: Stewart, Felicity Title: Provocation in Sentencing: Research Report. 2nd Edition Summary: This paper is intended as an examination of some of the sentencing policy issues and principles raised by the abolition of the partial defence of provocation in light of Victoria Law Reform Commission Homicide Report. Details: Melbourne: State of Victoria, Sentencing Advisory Council, 2009 Source: Year: 2009 Country: Australia URL: Shelf Number: 117350 Keywords: HomicideSentencing |
Author: Ward, K.T. Title: In Pieces: A Review of Prostitution, Community Safety Issues and Good Practice Summary: This report highlights key community safety issues raised locally and nationally in relation to prostitution and identifies areas of good practice that can inform the Ipswich Street Prostitution Strategy and action plan. Additionally a review of press coverage during the critical period of the murders of 5 local women who worked as prostitutes in Ipswich was undertaken focusing on how the events of the murders unfolded and were reported by the media. Details: Ipswich, UK: Ipswich Community Safety Partnership, 2007. 144p. Source: Available at the Rutgers Criminal Justice Library Year: 2007 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 117094 Keywords: HomicideMediaProstitutesProstitutionSex Workers |
Author: Harrendorf, Stefan Title: International Statistics on Crime and Justice Summary: This objective of this report is to show users of international crime data what they could learn from these, and provide guidance as to restrictions, pitfalls and strengths of the unique set of data that is now available. The report consists of the following eight chapters: homicide; trends in police-recorded crime; drug crime; complex crimes; responses of the criminal justice system; attributes of criminal justice systems - resources, performance and punitivity; trends in world prison population; and crime and criminal justice statistics challenges. Details: Helsinki: European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI); Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2010. 176p. Source: Year: 2010 Country: International URL: Shelf Number: 118290 Keywords: Criminal Justice StatisticsDrug Abuse and CrimeHomicideInternational Crime StatisticsPrisons |
Author: Leigh, Andrew Title: Do Gun Buybacks Save Lives? Evidence from Panel Data Summary: In 1997, Australia implemented a gun buyback program that reduced the stock of firearms by around one-fifth. Using differences across states in the number of firearms withdrawn, this study tests whether the reduction in firearms availability affected firearm homicide and suicide rates. The study found that the buyback led to a drop in the firearm suicide rates of almost 80 percent, with no statistically significant effect on non-firearm death rates. The estimated effect on firearm homicides is of similar magnitude, but is less precise. The results are robust to a variety of specification checks, and to instrumenting the state-level buyback rate. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2010. 55p. Source: Internet Resource; IZA Discussion Paper No. 4995 Year: 2010 Country: Australia URL: Shelf Number: 118790 Keywords: FirearmsFirearms (Australia)Gun Buyback ProgramsGun ControlHomicideSuicide |
Author: Delaney, Christopher L. Title: The Effects of Focused Deterrence on Gang Homicide: An Evaluation of Rochester's Ceasefire Program Summary: In the late 1990's, a problem oriented policing initiative in Boston, "Operation: Ceasefire", achieved significant reductions in youth homicide by focusing on gang behavior. The program was driven by a concept known as focused deterrence. The success of the Boston program encouraged other jurisdictions across the country to implement their own versions of the Ceasefire project. In recent years, violence in Rochester, NY came to be seen as consistent with the gang driven problem described in Boston and a version of Operation Ceasefire was implemented in October, 2003. This study examines the Ceasefire program as implemented in Rochester, NY from October 2003 to December 2004. Using an interrupted time-series research design, the study finds limited but statistically significant reductions in homicides of black males ages 15-30 during the Ceasefire intervention period. Despite this finding, increases in 2005 homicides of black males ages 15-30 have raised concerns about the effectiveness of the program. A postscript examines the 2005 increase and considers explanations for the increase associated with potential theoretical and operational shortcomings in the Ceasefire program. Details: Rochester, NY: College of Liberal Arts/Public Policy Program, Rochester Institute of Technology, 2005. 157p. Source: Master's Thesis; Internet Resource Year: 2005 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 118682 Keywords: Ceasefire ProgramFocused DeterrenceGang ViolenceGangsHomicideProblem-Oriented Policing |
Author: Reynolds, Robert Title: Prevention of Murders in Diadema, Brazil: The Influence of New Alcohol Policies Summary: In July, 2002, Diadema adopted a new municipal code requiring that all alcohol retailers in the City of Diadema cease alcohol sales at 11:00 pm. City records suggested that the adoption and enforcement of this new alcohol policy was preventing assaults against women and murders in Diadema. This research protocol evaluates the outcomes of the new alcohol policy by addressing two questions: 1) Does the new alcohol policy prevent murders in Diadema? 2) Does the new alcohol policy prevent assaults against women in Diadema? The study concluded that since January 2000 there has been a steady improvement in public safety and Diadema has become a safer city. The reductions in murder and in assaults against women began before the adoption of the new alcohol policy in July 2002, and these reductions accelerated after the new policy was implemented. Details: Calverton, MD: Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 2004. 9p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2004 Country: Brazil URL: Shelf Number: 118670 Keywords: Alcohol Related Crime, Disorder (Brazil)Domestic ViolencHomicideViolence Against Women |
Author: Richards, Laura Title: Findings from the Multi-agency Domestic Violence Murder Reviews in London Summary: This report examines the circumstances on 30 out of 56 murders committed between 01/01/2001 and 06/04/2002 in London. It found that domestic homicide accounts for approximately 25% of all homicides in London and 35% in England and Wales. Details: London: Metropolitan Police, 2003.43p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2003 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 119145 Keywords: Domestic HomicideDomestic Violence (London)Homicide |
Author: Engel, Robin S. Title: Implementation of the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV): Year 1 Report Summary: The Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) is a multi-agency and community collaborative effort initiated in 2007 designed to quickly and dramatically reduce gun-violence and associated homicides, as well as sustain reductions over time. The initiative is a focused-deterrence strategy which is modeled after the Boston Gun Project from the mid-1990’s. A partnership among multiple law enforcement agencies (local, state and federal), social service providers, and the community has been established to deliver a clear message to violent street groups: the violence must stop. This message is communicated through a number of different mechanisms, including call-in sessions with probationers and parolees; direct contact through street workers (street advocates), police, probation, and parole officers; community outreach; and media outlets. Law enforcement agencies have gathered intelligence on violent street group networks, and consequences are delivered to the street groups that continue to engage in violence. Those offenders seeking a more productive lifestyle are provided streamlined social services, training, education, and employment opportunities. The community and law enforcement are working as partners, and as a result, strengthening their relationship. This report documents the initiation of CIRV, initial assessments of CIRV activities, and future plans. Details: Cincinnati, OH: University of Cincinnati Policing Institute, 2008. 55p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 119449 Keywords: Gun Violence (Cincinnati)HomicideViolent Crime |
Author: Mitchell, Christine Title: Domestic Violence Homicides in Utah: 2000 through 2008 Summary: This report attempts to provide some background on domestic violence homicide in general, as well as further detail and context to incidents in Utah over the recent 9-year period (2000-2008). The data obtained from incidents in Utah appear to be consistent with previous research on domestic violence homicide, based on the data that was available. Homicide in general is a very complex crime, and domestic violence homicide in particular is influenced by many factors related to both the individuals involved as well as contextual and relationship factors. It is clear from the data presented here that many interrelated antecedents need to be taken into account when attempting to understand any given domestic violence homicide incident. A clearer articulation of these factors can hopefully help practitioners and policy makers who are involved in the prevention of domestic violence homicide involving intimate partners, children, and others. Details: Salt Lake City, UT: Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, 2009. 35p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 119470 Keywords: Domestic Violence (Utah)HomicideIntimate Partner ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Engel, Robin S. Title: Implementation of the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV): Year 2 Report Summary: The Cincinnati Inititive to Reduce Violence is a focused deterrence strategy loosely modeled after the Boston Gun Project from the mid-1990s. Focused deterrence initiatives aim to deliver a deterrent message accurately and directly to those who sustain a culture of violence. This report details the activities and outcomes for the second year of the program. Details: Cincinnati, OH: University of Cincinnati Policing Institute, 2009. 90p. Source: Internet Resource; Accessed August 7, 2010 at http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/downloads/police_pdf38580.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/downloads/police_pdf38580.pdf Shelf Number: 118346 Keywords: Focused Deterrence (Cincinnati)GangsGun ViolenceHomicideViolence Prevention |
Author: Regan, Linda Title: In Only We'd Known: An Exploratory Study of Seven Intimate Partner Homicides in Engleshire Summary: During one year there were five cases of intimate partner femicide (IPF) in Engleshire two of which involved perpetrator suicide. This cluster of cases were unusual in that there had been no prior agency involvement and, it appeared, minimal previous violence. This report addresses the knowledge of informal network members about these cases, the current knowledge base on IPF among professionals, and the relevance of risk assessment and management models to the Engleshire cases. The key research question was to examine what families and wider informal networks knew about the couple's relationship during the period leading up to the victim's death, to enhance understanding of femicide and improve agency responses. Details: London: Child and Women Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University, 2007. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 22, 2010 at: http://www.aafda.org.uk/Resources/if_only_we'd_known.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United Arab Emirates URL: http://www.aafda.org.uk/Resources/if_only_we'd_known.pdf Shelf Number: 118773 Keywords: FemicideHomicideIntimate Partner Violence |
Author: Lauria, Carlos Title: Silence of Death in Mexico's Press: Crime, Violence, and Corruption Are Destroying the Country's Journalism Summary: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) research has identified Mexico as one of the deadliest countries in the world for the press and one of the worst nations in solving crimes against journalists. CPJ researchers have traveled the breadth of the country over the course of four years, interviewing dozens of journalists about the dangers of their work and the devastating self-censorship that has resulted from anti-press violence. CPJ delegations have met with high-ranking Mexican officials, including President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, to discuss the grave problem of impunity in attacks on the press. This report examines the murders of 22 journalists and three media support workers, along with the disappearances of seven journalists, during the Calderón presidency, which began in December 2006. The report identifies systemic law enforcement failures and offers potential solutions. Details: New York: Committee to Protect Journalists, 2010. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 6, 2010 at: http://cpj.org/reports/cpj_mexico_english.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Mexico URL: http://cpj.org/reports/cpj_mexico_english.pdf Shelf Number: 119874 Keywords: CorruptionCriminal ViolenceHomicideJournalistsMurders |
Author: O'Flaherty, Brendan Title: Peaceable Kingdoms and War Zones: Preemption, Ballistics and Murder in Newark Summary: Between 2000 and 2006 the murder rate in Newark doubled while the national rate remained essentially constant. In 2006, Newark had seven times as many murders per capita as the nation as a whole. Furthermore, the increase in murders came about through an increase in lethality: total gun discharges rose much more slowly than the likelihood of death per shooting. In order to explain these trends we develop a theoretical model of murder in which preemptive killing and weapon choice play a central role. Strategic complementarity amplifes changes in fundamentals, so areas with high murder rates (war zones) respond much more strongly to changes in fundamentals than those with low murder rates (peaceable kingdoms). In Newark, the changes in fundamentals that set o¤ the spiral were a collapsing arrest rate (and probably a falling conviction rate), a reduction in prisoners, and a shrinking police force. A prediction of the model is that murders will decline in a manner that is as sharp and sudden as the increase has been, and there is preliminary evidence to suggest that such a collapse in the murder rate is already underway. Details: New York: Department of Economics, Columbia University, 2007. 61p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 11, 2010 at: http://www.columbia.edu/~rs328/murder.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: http://www.columbia.edu/~rs328/murder.pdf Shelf Number: 119915 Keywords: Crime RatesGun ViolenceGunsHomicide |
Author: Ringland, Clare Title: Domestic Homicide in NSW, January 2003 - June 2008 Summary: This brief examines trends and characteristics of domestic homicides in NSW over the period January 2003 to June 2008. During this time, there were 215 victims of domestic homicide, 115 females and 100 males. The rate of domestic homicide per year remained stable, ranging from a low of 0.46 per 100,000 population in 2004 to a high of 0.63 per 100,000 population in 2006. Forty-three per cent of domestic homicide victims (70 females and 23 males) were killed by intimate partners, and 19 per cent by parents. Stabbing was the most common act causing death, with knives used in over one-third of domestic homicides. The use of knives increased over the period, while the use of firearms decreased. Over three-quarters of offenders were male, and one-third of offenders may have had a history of mental illness and/or been suffering from mental illness at the time of the homicide. Twenty-six per cent of offenders were persons of interest in a violence-related incident in the 12 months prior to the homicide, and 52 per cent in the five years prior. In the 12 months prior to the homicide event, only 10 per cent of victims had been identified as a victim in a violence-related incident where the homicide offender was identified as a person of interest. Details: Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2009. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Bureau Brief, Issue Paper No. 42: Accessed October 11, 2010 at: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/bb42.pdf/$file/bb42.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Australia URL: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/bb42.pdf/$file/bb42.pdf Shelf Number: 118552 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceFamily ViolenceHomicideVictims of CrimeViolence Against WomenViolent Crime |
Author: Berk, Richard Title: Forecasting Murder Within a Population of Probationers and Parolees: A High Stakes Application of Statistical Learning Summary: In the United States, forecasts of future dangerousness are often used to inform the sentencing decisions of convicted offenders, and for individuals sentenced to probation or parole, the conditions under which they are to be supervised. The target for these forecasts is commonly almost any new offense, most of which are not considered to be very serious. This can produce a one-size-fits-all decision that may not allocate scarce criminal justice resources effectively. In this paper, we focus on individuals sentenced to probation or parole. Using data on over 60,000 cases beginning supervision under the Philadelphia Department of Adult Probation and Parole, we forecast whether a homicide or attempted homicide will be committed. We use statistical learning procedures that take the relative costs of false negatives and false positives into account and evaluate our forecasting skill with a large test sample. Homicide and attempted homicide are relatively rare crimes, but are considered to be among the most serious. Insofar as prospective murderers can be usefully identified, there is the possibility of shifting supervisory and rehabilitation resources to a subset of offenders who may be in greatest need. Details: Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Department of Criminology, 2007. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 13, 2010 at: http://www.crim.upenn.edu/faculty/papers/berk/murder.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: http://www.crim.upenn.edu/faculty/papers/berk/murder.pdf Shelf Number: 119941 Keywords: HomicideParoleesProbationers |
Author: Innes, Martin Title: Measuring the Impact of Homicide on Community Reassurance: A Report to ACPO Homicide Working Group and NCPE Summary: This report details the findings of a proof of concept study conducted to examine the rationale and potential for measuring the impacts that criminal homicides have upon community reassurance and neighbourhood security. There were three basic aims of the study: 1) To examine how different criminal homicide incidents might impact upon levels of public reassurance generally and neighbourhood security more specifically in and around the particular areas connected to the crime; 2) To evaluation of the impact on levels of community reassurance and neighbourhood security of current standard police investigative practices used when responding to homicides; and 3) To explore and appraise a methodology for measuring the impacts of homicides on reassurance and neighbourhood security, and consider how this might contribute to the professional development of current community impact assessment tools used by police and improve the effectiveness of community impact management practices. Details: Cardiff, Wales: Police Science Institute, Cardiff University School of Social Sciences, 2006. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 28, 2010 at: http://www.upsi.org.uk/resources/CommunityImpactAssessment%20HomicideACPO2006.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.upsi.org.uk/resources/CommunityImpactAssessment%20HomicideACPO2006.pdf Shelf Number: 120111 Keywords: Fear of CrimeHomicidePolice Investigations |
Author: Bruce, David Title: Tackling Armed Violence: Key Findings and Recommendations of the Study on the Violent Nature of Crime in South Africa Summary: This report is the sixth and final product of a study on the violent nature of crime undertaken by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in terms of an agreement entered into with the Minister of Safety and Security. The agreement provides for CSVR to produce six reports and that the last report should be a summary report on key findings and recommendations. This report therefore may be regarded as representing the “high level” findings of the study. This report is essentially concerned with how we understand violent crime in South Africa. By using the best empirical evidence that is available, the report aims to provide a solid footing for understanding violent crime so as to ensure the effectiveness of efforts to address it. The bulk of the report is directed towards meeting this purpose, after which the report puts forward a set of recommendations for addressing violent crime. Details: Pretoria: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, 2010. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 22, 2010 at: http://www.csvr.org.za/docs/study/6.TAV_final_report_13_03_10.pdf Year: 2010 Country: South Africa URL: http://www.csvr.org.za/docs/study/6.TAV_final_report_13_03_10.pdf Shelf Number: 120280 Keywords: Armed RobberyHomicideViolence (South Africa)Violent Crime |
Author: Soares, Rodrigo Title: Understanding High Crime Rates in Latin America: The Role of Social and Policy Factors Summary: This paper discusses the pattern, causes and consequence of the high crime rates observed in Latin America. Crime represents a substantial welfare loss and a potentially serious hindrance to growth. We conduct an informal assessment of the relative strength of the alternative hypotheses raised in the literature to explain the phenomenon. We argue that, despite being extremely high, the incidence of crime in the region is not much different from what should be expected based on socioeconomic and public policy characteristics of its countries. Estimates from the empirical literature suggest that most of its seemingly excessively high violence can be explained by three factors: high inequality, low incarceration rates, and small police forces. Still, country specific experiences have been different in many respects. The evidence suggests that effective policies toward violence reduction do exist and have been shown to work within the context of Latin America itself. Details: Manuscript originally prepared for the conference "Confronting Crime and Violence in Latin America: Crafting a Public Policy Agenda, July 2007. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 9, 2010 at: http://www.sebh.ecn.br/seminario_5/arquivo1.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Central America URL: http://www.sebh.ecn.br/seminario_5/arquivo1.pdf Shelf Number: 120410 Keywords: HomicideSocioeconomic ConditionsViolenceViolent Crime (Latin America) |
Author: Breckenridge, Jan Title: Thinking About Homicide Risk: A Practice Framework for Counselling Summary: Research tells us that many women experiencing domestic violence do not disclose their experience when seeking counselling but instead raise other related problems such as relationship conflict, depression or parenting issues. These women may 'fall under the radar' if counsellors are not able to identify domestic violence and homicide risk. • Knowing how and when to assess for homicide risk is an essential skill for all counsellors who may work with women experiencing domestic violence, particularly those at non-specialist services. This paper proposes a multi-systemic practice framework to help counsellors assess for and respond to homicide risk in family violence contexts. The framework outlines the four main system domains that counsellors may need to address: the client system; the therapeutic relationship; the organisational context; and the system of services. Details: Sydney: Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse, 2010. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Stakeholder Paper 9: Accessed December 15, 2010 at: http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/Stakeholder%20Paper_9.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Australia URL: http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/Stakeholder%20Paper_9.pdf Shelf Number: 120521 Keywords: Battered WomenDomestic ViolenceFamily ViolenceHomicideViolence Against Women |
Author: Browne, Angela Title: Anticipating the Future Based on Analysis of the Past: Intercity Variation in Youth Homicide, 1984-2006 Summary: Homicide researchers at the Vera Institute of Justice, RTI International, and the Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies, University of California conducted a comprehensive study of trends in youth homicide offending from 1984-2006 for youth 13 to 24 years of age in 91 of the 100 largest cities in the United States (based on the 1980 Census). The study extends previous work on the perpetration of youth violence by modeling city-specific explanatory predictors influencing annual changes in youth homicide offending within cities during the youth homicide epidemic in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, applying the specified model to emerging trends in youth homicide perpetration for 2000-2006, assessing whether the model applies equally well for juveniles 13 to 17 and young adults ages 18 to 24, and analyzing whether the scope of the model can be extended to perpetration of nonlethal youth violence, particularly robbery and aggravated assault. A unique comprehensive data file representing youth lethal and nonlethal offending by males ages 13 to 24 at the city-level over this 23-year period was also constructed for public use. Findings showed that homicide, robbery, and aggravated assault trends for both juveniles and young adults followed the same general trend between 1984 and 2006. There was an escalation in lethal and nonlethal violence arrest rates in the early years, followed by a significant downturn after the early 1990s, and then a subsequent and significant upturn in the more recent years of the time period. While some factors were consistently associated with youth violence across offense type, time period, and analytic technique, others were significant in only certain situations. Specifically, structural disadvantage was consistently associated with variation in homicide and robbery among juvenile and young adult perpetrators during both the initial escalation of violence in the mid-1980s and early 90s and in more recent years. Additionally, gang presence –activity and drug market activity were consistently associated with the escalation in homicide offending among both juveniles and young adults during both early and later years. Details: Unpublished report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice, 2010. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed Decembe4r 21, 2010 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/232622.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/232622.pdf Shelf Number: 120560 Keywords: HomicideJuvenile OffendersRobberyViolent CrimeYouth Violence |
Author: Karp, Aaron Title: Surplus Arms in South America: A Survey Summary: The data in this report is derived from country submissions when possible, and estimates when necessary. Estimates are extrapolated from each country’s identified procurement, highest modern personnel totals, and strategic doctrine. Except where noted, the military small arms and light weapons data presented here is not official, comprehensive, or conclusive; it is for general evaluation and comparison only. The complete methodology used here is described in Chapter 2 of the Small Arms Survey 2006. Small arms are state-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, shotguns, and light and medium machine guns. Firearms are civilian-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, and shotguns. Long at the forefront of international small arms issues, public debate and activism in South America have largely focused on matters surrounding civilian firearms, estimated here to total between 21.7 and 26.8 million. The reasons for this civilian preoccupation are principally linked to chronic gun violence. South America has 14 per cent of the global population, and roughly 3.5 to 4 per cent of the world’s civilian firearms, but it suffers from roughly 40 per cent of all homicides committed with firearms. Military small arms are rarely part of public debate, largely because of a strong culture of national security secrecy in South America. But military small arms policy has attracted much closer scrutiny in recent years, especially as military small arms and light weapons are diverted to criminals and guerrillas, fuelling insurgencies and civil violence. This report focuses primarily on issues surrounding surplus military small arms and light weapons in the region. Law enforcement and civilian firearms inventories and issues are recognized here as well, to ensure a balanced overall perspective. The region’s military establishments do not have a strong record of identifying or eliminating their surplus small arms, light weapons, or ammunition. South America holds some of the world’s largest military small arms and light weapons surpluses. Military inventories are not exceptionally large in absolute terms, but they are a major element in global surplus problems. Among the 12 independent countries of South America, there are an estimated 3.6 million military small arms as of 2007, 1.5 per cent of the global total. Of these, approximately 1.3 million, more than one-third, are surplus. Summary recommendations include: • The formal small arms and light weapons requirements of South American active-duty forces should be available to national civilian leaders and the public. • Inventories of military small arms and light weapons, including obsolescent small arms, and ammunition should be made publicly available. • Reserve forces should be kept at the lowest levels possible to avoid exaggerating military small arms and light weapons requirements. • Excess military small arms, light weapons, and ammunition should be destroyed under civilian supervision and public scrutiny. • Countries where surplus military small arms destruction is a special priority include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guyana, Paraguay, and Peru. • Older-generation man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) should be destroyed. Storage of newer MANPADS should be made highly secure and accountable. • Countries where MANPADS destruction is a special priority include Argentina, Ecuador, and Peru. Details: Geneva: Small Arms Survey, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, 2009. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper No. 7: Accessed February 8, 2011 at: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/F-Working-papers/SAS-WP7-Surplus-Arms-in-South-America.pdf Year: 2009 Country: South America URL: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/F-Working-papers/SAS-WP7-Surplus-Arms-in-South-America.pdf Shelf Number: 120719 Keywords: Gun ControlGun ViolenceHomicideWeapons |
Author: Medina, Carlos Title: An Assessment of How Urban Crime and Victimization Affects Life Satisfaction Summary: We assess the effect of the homicide rate, individual‟s perception of security in their neighborhood of residence, and of the effect of their having been victimized, on life satisfaction. We find a negative effect of the homicide rate on life satisfaction for the subsample of individuals living in their current houses for at least 10 years or more, who had moved to that place at some point in the past. We also find a positive and robust effect of the perception of security in the households' neighborhood for the whole sample, and for different subsamples considered. Having been victim of an offense is also robustly negatively related to life satisfaction, in particular in the cases where the offense was robbery. Details: Bogota, Colombia: Borradores de Economia, 2011. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper No. 640: Accessed February 9, 2011 at: http://www.banrep.gov.co/docum/ftp/borra640.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.banrep.gov.co/docum/ftp/borra640.pdf Shelf Number: 120731 Keywords: HomicideVictimizationVictims of Crime |
Author: Gaviria, Alejandro Title: The Cost of Avoiding Crime: The Case of Bogota Summary: We use hedonic price models to estimate the value households are willing to pay to avoid violent crime in the city of Bogotá. We find that households living in the highest socioeconomic level (stratum 6) pay up to 7.2% of their house values in order to prevent average homicide rates from increasing in one standard deviation. Households in stratum 5 pay up to 2.4% of their house values to prevent homicide rates from increasing. The results indicate the willingness to pay for security by households in Bogotá, and additionally, reveal that a pure public good like security, ends up creating urban private markets that auction security. These markets imply different levels of access to public goods among the population, and actually, the exclusion of the poorest. We find as well evidence of negative capitalization of the rate of attacks against life, and positive capitalization of the presence of police authority. Details: Bogota, Colombia: Borradores de Economia, 2008. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper No. 208: Accessed February 9, 2011 at: http://www.banrep.gov.co/docum/ftp/borra508.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Colombia URL: http://www.banrep.gov.co/docum/ftp/borra508.pdf Shelf Number: 120734 Keywords: HomicidePrivate SecuritySocioeconomic StatusViolent Crime (Bogota, Colombia) |
Author: LePard, Doug Title: Missing Women: Investigation Review Summary: The report provides a chronology of events and a critical analysis of the investigation into the then unexplained disappearances of numerous sex trade workers, the majority of whom were associated with the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. We now know that many of the Missing Women fell prey to a serial killer. It should be noted at the outset that while it is clear today who the serial killer was, that is with the benefit of hindsight. Even when a fully functioning multi-jurisdictional team of highly competent and experienced investigators was assembled and had the capacity to review all available information, it still didn’t identify Pickton as a priority suspect and the case broke because of serendipitous circumstances. As well, two other serial murder cases in BC remain unresolved, despite extraordinary investigative efforts; clearly the challenges of a serial killer investigation are immense. The disappearances of the Missing Women began in the mid-1990s and ended when Robert Pickton was arrested in February 2002. The Review examines the general failures occurring in the Vancouver Police Department investigation, and also the specific failures occurring in the Coquitlam RCMP investigation after they received information and evidence in 1998 and 1999 that directly linked Pickton to homicides of sex trade workers. The Review concludes with recommendations that, if implemented, would correct problems and minimize the probability of such problems from occurring again. Some of these deficiencies have been corrected since they were first identified in 2004, but there are others beyond the control of the VPD that have not been satisfactorily addressed. Details: Vancouver, BC: Vancouver Police Department, 2010. 408p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 9, 2011 at: http://www.cbc.ca/bc/news/bc-100820-vancouver-police-pickton-investigation-review.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Canada URL: http://www.cbc.ca/bc/news/bc-100820-vancouver-police-pickton-investigation-review.pdf Shelf Number: 120735 Keywords: Criminal InvestigationsHomicideProstitutesSerial Crimes |
Author: Australian Institute of Criminology Title: Domestic-Related Homicide: Keynote Papers from the 2008 International Conference on Homicide Summary: In December 2008, the Australian Institute of Criminology held an international conference on homicide with a focus on domestic-related homicide. The conference provided an opportunity to learn about international and national developments in research, policy, and practice. This report includes the papers of keynote speakers, with an emphasis on policy- and practice-relevant research. Topics included: men who murder an intimate women partner; homicide followed by suicide; intimate partner homicide and familicide in Western Australia; homicide among remote-dwelling Australian Aboriginal people; reducing intimate partner homicide rates; and public policy changes over three decades regarding the impact for victims of intimate partner violence and homicide. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2009. 94p. Source: Internet Resource: Research and Public Policy Series no. 104: Accessed April 7, 2011 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/C/C/3/%7BCC334155-D9E6-4635-84FB-32A81C3A3C69%7Drpp104_001.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/C/C/3/%7BCC334155-D9E6-4635-84FB-32A81C3A3C69%7Drpp104_001.pdf Shelf Number: 121269 Keywords: Domestic AssaultFamily Violence (Australia)HomicideIntimate Partner Violence |
Author: Wellford, Charles Title: Crime in New Orleans: Analyzing Crime Trends and New Orleans' Responses to Crime Summary: This report is a comprehensive analysis of crime in New Orleans and the efforts of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) to respond to that crime. One part of the study compared New Orleans’ overall crime rate to those of similar-sized US cities, and found that New Orleans has a comparable but lower rate than those cities’ overall crime average. But it did recognize that New Orleans’ most critical crime problem is murder. The report also found that in nearly 72% of New Orleans homicide cases, the victim knew the person who killed him. It stated that most killings take place outside in New Orleans, in front of someone’s home, and that most likely - there are witnesses to most killings, which is why researchers recommended stronger ties between the NOPD and the communities it serves. The researchers made the following recommendations for the NOPD: 1.) Enhance crime analysis, 2.) Establish Homicide Review Teams, 3.) Strengthen our ties with the people of New Orleans. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 2011. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 8, 2011 at: http://media.nola.com/crime_impact/other/BJA%20Crime%20in%20New%20Orleans%20Report%20March%202011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://media.nola.com/crime_impact/other/BJA%20Crime%20in%20New%20Orleans%20Report%20March%202011.pdf Shelf Number: 121277 Keywords: Crime Rates (New Orleans)HomicideViolent Crime |
Author: Llorente, Maria Victoria Title: Case Study: Reduction of Crime in Bogota: A Decade of Citizen's Security Policies Summary: The reduction of crime and, above all, of homicide in the city of Bogotá over the last decade represents an exemplary experience, not only due to the magnitude of the drop in the city’s crime rates, but also due to the novelty of the discourse and management of security-related issues on the part of the municipal administration. The Bogota case illustrates the development of a citizens’ security policy in which strategies of different characters are applied, such as the control of risk factors like alcohol consumption and firearm possession, the strengthening of the city’s policing capacity, initiatives related to cultural changes that would tend to increase respect for life and for the self-regulation of citizens’ behavior, interventions in deteriorated urban spaces etc. This combination of strategies and their results in terms of reducing crime and the feeling of insecurity in the city turn this experience into a good example of the various possibilities that exist to deal with the phenomena of urban criminality and of violence in particular. This case also allows one to consider the effectiveness of some interventions, as well as the process of evaluating the results of the policies implemented. This document explains the development of this experience from the mid-1990s. The first part presents how the city’s main social and security indicators evolved over the course of the period in question. The second and third parts outline the security and coexistence policies adopted during the administrations of the last three mayors, considering in particular the hypotheses that inspired them and their approach, the main measures put in place and the costs incurred by the municipal administration to implement them. Finally, the fourth part looks at the impact of these policies, as well as the practical lessons that may be extracted from them with regards to the planning of public policies for crime and violence prevention and to the evaluation of results. Details: Washington, DC: World Bank, Water, Disaster Management, and Urgan Development Group - Latin America and Caribbean Region, 2005. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 8, 2011 at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTLACREGTOPURBDEV/Resources/841042-1219076931513/5301922-1250717140763/Bogota.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Colombia URL: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTLACREGTOPURBDEV/Resources/841042-1219076931513/5301922-1250717140763/Bogota.pdf Shelf Number: 121284 Keywords: Crime Prevention PartnershipsCrime Rates (Bogota, Colombia)HomicideUrban CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Rosemann, Ute Title: Protect - Identifying and Protecting High Risk Victims of Gender Base Violence - An Overview Summary: The project PROTECT aims at contributing to the prevention and reduction of the most serious forms of gender-based violence against girls, young women and their children, such as grievous bodily harm, homicide and attempted homicide, including so-called honour crimes and killings. Gender-based intimate partner violence against women and girls can take very severe forms such as grievous bodily harm, deprivation of liberty by locking victims up, often over days or even years, attempted murder or murder. These crimes seem to be motivated by different factors and concepts – extreme jealousy, possessiveness, accusation of ‘dishonouring‘ the family and other reasons – however, all of these crimes seem to have the similar goal of exercising power over women and girls and controlling their lives. Any move that is seen as a challenge to such concepts of power and control, e.g., if a woman or girl tries to leave her violent partner or father, can endanger her life, health and liberty. Ultimately, the beneficiaries of this project are women, young women, and girls, who are at high risk of severe violations of their fundamental human rights: the right to life, health and liberty. Research shows that violence can be reduced by systematically identifying and comprehensively protecting victims at high risk. Such coordinated interventions are still missing in most EU countries and regions; therefore the project aims at improving the protection of high risk victims. The project’s target groups are professionals from core agencies responsible for the protection and support of victims and the prevention of violence, organisations and institutions working in the area of violence prevention, policy makers and – last but not least – victims of gender-based violence. the report is structured in three main chapters: II. A Summary of intimate partner violence and intimate partner femicide risk assessment studies, II. B. Report on research results related to mapping of eight countries concerning the protection and safety of high risk victims of gender based intimate partner violence, including a description of the functioning of the MARACs in England and Wales, and II. C. Availability of reliable, systematically collected and analysed data on gender-based intimate partner homicide / femicide in Europe. The last section of the PROTECT final research report provides conclusions based on the outcomes of the project. Details: Vienna: WAVE - Women Against Violence Europe, 2010. 92p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 22, 2011 at: http://www.wave-network.org/start.asp?ID=23494 Year: 2010 Country: Europe URL: http://www.wave-network.org/start.asp?ID=23494 Shelf Number: 121480 Keywords: FemicideGender Based ViolenceHomicideHonor KillingsIntimate Partner ViolenceRisk AssessmentViolence Against Women (Europe) |
Author: Appleby, Louis Title: The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness: Suicide and Homicide in Northern Ireland Summary: Suicide is a highly complex issue and continues to present a growing challenge for our society despite strenuous efforts across the statutory, community and voluntary sectors together with inspirational support from bereaved families. The individual circumstances for each person represented in the statistics presented in this report are unique. Nevertheless, to reduce the risk of suicide it is important, where possible, to identify common themes and patterns. We are all aware that people are now facing increasing pressures that can threaten their mental health and wellbeing. Substance misuse is a more common feature of modern life, particularly in areas of social and economic disadvantage; secure employment opportunities are not as plentiful; personal debt is rising; the gap in educational attainment remains; and stable family life is not as dominant a feature in society as it once was. This report demonstrates the link between mental ill health and suicide with the finding that 29% of people who died by suicide had been in contact with mental health services in the previous 12 months. However, this figure also indicates that many people who are suicidal, and therefore likely to have mental health difficulties, are not accessing statutory mental health services. Covering a nine year period from January 2000 to December 2008 during which there were 1,865 suicides and probable suicides in Northern Ireland, the report presents detailed data that looks behind the headline statistics. By presenting a better understanding of these deaths, the report will assist in fine tuning policy and practice for the care of people within mental health services and help to prevent deaths. The remit of the Inquiry also covers homicide by people who have been in contact with mental health services and the report notes that 15% of perpetrators of homicide were confirmed to have been in contact with mental health services in the 12 months before the offence. As with homicide in the general population, in most of these cases the perpetrators and victims were known to each other and, more importantly, none of the “stranger homicides” over the review period was committed by a mental health patient. Perceptions around the issue of serious violence by mental health patients can increase the fear and stigma that mentally ill people encounter. The evidence from this report reinforces the important point of the low risk to the general public from mental health patients which should be highlighted in initiatives to combat stigma. The report highlights areas where practice can be improved and presents a series of recommendations covering policy and practice. Work is already progressing that will help put many of the recommendations in place. This includes: the development of updated policy on suicide prevention and the promotion of positive mental health; the development of the second action plan for implementation of the Bamford Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability; ongoing implementation of the “Card Before You Leave” protocol at Emergency Departments; and work with the Department of Justice to improve support for people with mental illness in the criminal justice system. Overall, the report increases our understanding of the risks of suicide in people with mental illness and of how to respond more effectively to those risks. This will help in taking further action to reduce suicide by people who use mental health services in Northern Ireland. Details: Manchester, UK: University of Manchester, 2011. 112p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 30, 2011 at: http://www.medicine.manchester.ac.uk/mentalhealth/research/suicide/prevention/nci/northern_ireland/northern_ireland_full_report.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.medicine.manchester.ac.uk/mentalhealth/research/suicide/prevention/nci/northern_ireland/northern_ireland_full_report.pdf Shelf Number: 121920 Keywords: HomicideMental Health ServicesMental Illness (Northern Ireland) Mentally Ill OffSuicide |
Author: Ward, Liz Title: An Assessment of the Tackling Knives and Serious Youth Violence Action Programme (TKAP) – Phase ll Summary: The Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) ran initially from June 2008 until March 2009 and aimed to reduce teenage knife crime in ten police force areas in England and Wales. TKAP Phase II was then launched and the programme re-branded into the Tackling Knives and Serious Youth Violence Action Programme. Phase II ran from April 2009 to March 2010 in 16 police force areas (the original ten TKAP forces and six new areas) and aimed to reduce all serious violence involving 13- to 24-year-olds using a range of enforcement, education and prevention initiatives. The Home Office Research and Analysis Unit was asked to form an assessment of the success of TKAP Phase II in reducing serious youth violence. A secondary aim of the programme was to improve public confidence around serious youth violence in the 16 police force areas. As the TKAP areas were partly selected due to their high levels of violent crime, a randomised experimental design could not be used to assess the impact of the programme. Instead, a quasi-experimental methodology was applied using a variety of analytical techniques to compare what happened in the TKAP areas during TKAP Phase II with the previous year (2008/09) and before the start of the programme (2007/08). Wherever possible, comparisons were also made with a group of forces not involved in the programme (non-TKAP areas). The findings provide encouraging evidence that serious violence involving 13- to 24-year-olds declined across the country between 2007/08 and 2009/10. However, given that the reductions were not specific to or consistently greater in the TKAP areas (compared with the non-TKAP areas), and taking into account various methodological limitations described in the report, it is not possible to directly attribute reductions in the TKAP areas during Phase II to TKAP activities. Details: London: Home Office, 2011. 67p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report 53: Accessed June 30, 2011 at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/crime-research/horr53/horr53-report?view=Binary Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/crime-research/horr53/horr53-report?view=Binary Shelf Number: 121923 Keywords: Crime ReductionHomicideKnife Crime (U.K.)Violent CrimeWeapons |
Author: Harrell, Erika Title: Workplace Violence, 1993-2009 Summary: In 2009, approximately 572,000 nonfatal violent crimes (rape/sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault) occurred against persons age 16 or older while they were at work or on duty, based on findings from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). This accounted for about 24% of nonfatal violence against employed persons age 16 or older. Nonfatal violence in the workplace was about 15% of all nonfatal violent crime against persons age 16 or older. The rate of violent crime against employed persons has declined since 1993. In 2009, an estimated 4 violent crimes per 1,000 employed persons age 16 or older were committed while the victims were at work or on duty, compared to 6 violent crimes per 1,000 employed persons age 16 or older in 2002. In 1993, the rate of nonfatal violence was 16 violent crimes per 1,000 employed persons while at work, a rate 75% higher than in 2009. According to 2009 preliminary data, 521 persons age 16 or older were victims of homicide in the workplace. In about a third of workplace homicides from 2005-2009, the victim worked in a sales or office occupation. The data on homicides in this report are based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2011. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 12, 2011 at: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/wv09.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/wv09.pdf Shelf Number: 122037 Keywords: Crime StatisticsHomicideViolence in the WorkplaceViolent CrimeWorkplace CrimeWorkplace Violence (U.S.) |
Author: Pearce, Jenny Title: Violence, Security and Democracy: Perverse Interfaces and their Implications for States and Citizens in the Global South Summary: How does violence affect the everyday lives of citizens in the global South? Researching this theme under the aegis of the Violence, Participation and Citizenship group of the Citizenship DRC coordinated by IDS, we generated some answers, but also more questions, which this paper starts to explore. Why have democratisation processes failed to fulfil expectations of violence reduction in the global South? How does violence affect democracy and vice versa? Why does security practice in much of the global South not build secure environments? When examined empirically from the perspectives of poor Southern citizens, the interfaces between violence, security and democracy – assumed in conventional state and democratisation theory to be positive or benign – are often, in fact, perverse. Empirically-based reflection on these questions leads us to two propositions, which the paper then explores through the use of secondary literature. In essence: Proposition 1: Violence interacts perversely with democratic institutions, eroding their legitimacy and effectiveness. Democracy fails to deliver its promise of replacing the violence with accommodation and compromise, and democratic process is compromised, with citizens reacting by withdrawing from public spaces, accepting the authority of non-state actors, or supporting hard-line responses. Proposition 2: Security provision is not making people feel more secure. State responses to rising violence can strengthen state and non-state security actors committed to reproducing violence, disproportionately affecting the poorest communities. These ‘perverse interfaces’, we argue, warrant research in themselves, rather than minimal or tangential consideration in research on democracy, as tends to be the case. Further research needs to adopt fresh epistemological, methodological and analytical perspectives and seek to re-think and re-frame categories and concepts, rather than working within the received wisdoms of state and democratisation theory. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, 2011. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper, Volume 2011, No. 357: Accessed July 20, 2011 at: http://www.drc-citizenship.org/system/assets/1052734710/original/1052734710-pearce_etal.2011-perverse.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.drc-citizenship.org/system/assets/1052734710/original/1052734710-pearce_etal.2011-perverse.pdf Shelf Number: 122124 Keywords: HomicideViolenceViolence and DemocracyViolent Crime |
Author: Nunley, John M. Title: Demographic Change, Macroeconomic Conditions, and the Murder Rate: The Case of the United States, 1934 to 2006 Summary: Fluctuations in aggregate crime rates contrary to recent shifts in the age distribution of the U.S. population have cast doubt on the predictive power of the age-crime hypothesis. By examining a longer time horizon, back to the early 1930s,, we show that the percentage of the young population is a robust predictor of the observed large swings in the U.S. murder rate over time. However, changes in the misery index — the sum of the inflation and unemployment rates — significantly contribute to explaining changes in the murder rate. This applies, in particular, to those changes that are at odds with the long-run trend of the U.S. age distribution, such as the decline in the murder rate in the latter part of the 1970s or its increase starting around the middle of the 1980s. Details: Auburn, AL: Auburn University, 2010. 20p. Department of Economics, Source: Internet Resource: Auburn University Department of Economics Working Paper Series: Accessed October 22, 2011 at: http://cla.auburn.edu/econwp/Archives/2010/2010-04.pdf Year: 0 Country: United States URL: http://cla.auburn.edu/econwp/Archives/2010/2010-04.pdf Shelf Number: 123093 Keywords: Crime RatesEconomics and CrimeHomicideMurderUnemployment and Crime |
Author: Collier, Paul Title: Murder by Numbers: Socio-Economic Determinants of Homicide and Civil War Summary: Deliberate killing is a common part of the defining features of both homicide and civil war. Often, the scale of killing is also similar: most countries have homicide rates that exceed the threshold of one thousand combat-related deaths during a year that is the standard criterion for civil war. What is clearly different is the organization of killing: the perpetrators of homicide are usually individuals or small groups, whereas rebellion – the direct cause of a civil war - requires a cohesive group of at least several hundred killers. Beyond this, the motivation for the two types of killing may differ systematically, although evidently both homicide and rebellion have many different motivations, including error and irrationality. In this paper we investigate whether the socio-economic determinants of homicide and civil war are similar, and then explore potential inter-relationships between them. We compare our existing model of the risk of civil war with a new model of the homicide rate. We find that there is a ‘family resemblance’ between the two types of killing, but surprising differences. Furthermore, we turn to the inter-relationships between homicide and the risk of civil war. Specifically, we ask whether a high rate of homicide makes a country more prone to civil war, and whether a civil war makes a country more prone to homicide. Our results indicate that higher homicide rate do not increase the risk of war but that civil wars generate a legacy of increased post-conflict homicide rates. Details: Oxford, UK: Centre for the Study of African Economies, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, 2004. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Centre for the Study of African Economies Working Paper Series (CSAE WPS/2004-10): Accessed November 9, 2010 at: http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/workingpapers/pdfs/2004-10text.pdf Year: 2004 Country: Africa URL: http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/workingpapers/pdfs/2004-10text.pdf Shelf Number: 123272 Keywords: HomicideSocioeconomic VariablesViolent Crimes |
Author: Anderson, James M. Title: How Much Difference Does the Lawyer Make? The Effect of Defense Counsel on Murder Case Outcomes Summary: One in five indigent murder defendants in Philadelphia are randomly assigned representation by public defenders while the remainder receive court-appointed private attorneys. The authors exploit this random assignment to measure how defense counsel affect murder case outcomes. Compared to appointed counsel, public defenders in Philadelphia reduce their clients' murder conviction rate by 19% and lower the probability that their clients receive a life sentence by 62%. Public defenders reduce overall expected time served in prison by 24%. They find no difference in the overall number of charges of which defendants are found guilty. When they apply methods used in past studies of the effect of counsel that did not use random assignment, they obtain far more modest estimated impacts, which suggests defendant sorting is an important confounder affecting past research. To understand possible explanations for the disparity in outcomes, they interviewed judges, public defenders, and attorneys who took appointments. Interviewees identified a variety of institutional factors in Philadelphia that decreased the likelihood that appointed counsel would prepare cases as well as the public defenders. The vast difference in outcomes for defendants assigned different counsel types raises important questions about the adequacy and fairness of the criminal justice system. Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2011. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed on January 21, 2012 at http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/2011/RAND_WR870.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/2011/RAND_WR870.pdf Shelf Number: 123716 Keywords: DefendantsDefense AttorneysHomelessnessHomicide |
Author: Walby, Sylvia Title: Physical and Legal Security and the Criminal Justice System: A Review of Inequalities Summary: The focus of this report is physical and legal security in relation to the Criminal Justice System. The main areas of physical security include: homicide; other violence against the person, including domestic or intimate partner violence, sexual violence and hate crime; and physical security in institutional settings. The main areas of legal security include the extent to which offences are brought to justice and equal treatment in and by the Criminal Justice System. Emphasis is placed on evidence and the analysis of objective outcomes as opposed to subjective attitudes and perceptions, primarily because of the robustness of the former in comparison to the latter, but also because the selection of outcomes corresponds to the prioritization recommended by the Equalities Review (2007). The report addresses all the protected equality strands, as well as other disproportionately affected groups wherever there is available and relevant evidence. Due to the current unevenness in data collection and availability across the strands, the majority of evidence presented relates to gender, disability and race/ethnicity. Data on other equalities groups is drawn upon where available (often from small scale studies rather than surveys). The report addresses data and research primarily at the level of Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland), reflecting the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s geographical remit. The report reviews the evidence of the extent to which there are inequalities in physical and legal security. The sources used include large surveys (e.g. the British Crime Survey) and administrative data (e.g. police recorded crime), as well as evidence from smaller scale research projects, including those carried out by academia, civil society organisations and governmental commissions and agencies. Details: United Kingdom: Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2010. 172p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed on January 26, 2012 at http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/triennial_review/triennial_review_cjs_review.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/triennial_review/triennial_review_cjs_review.pdf Shelf Number: 123774 Keywords: Bias CrimeConviction RatesDisproportionate Minority ContactDomestic ViolenceHate CrimeHomicideRace/EthnicityViolence Against Women |
Author: Restrepo, Tanya Title: Violence in the Workplace Summary: The reality of workplace violence is markedly different from popular opinion. Workplace homicides "are not crimes of passion committed by disgruntled coworkers and spouses, but rather result from robberies." The majority of workplace assaults are committed by healthcare patients. This report examines the many aspects of work-related homicides and injuries due to assaults, and extends a series of studies published by NCCI on workplace violence with three years of additional data through 2009. For the most part, previously observed patterns and key findings are largely unchanged. Details: Boca Raton, FL: National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc., 2012. 26p. Source: NCCI Research Brief: Internet Resource: Accessed February 11, 2012 at https://www.ncci.com/documents/Workplace_Research.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncci.com/documents/Workplace_Research.pdf Shelf Number: 124083 Keywords: AssaultsHomicideViolence in the WorkplaceWorkplace Crime |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Monitoring the impact of economic crisis on crime Summary: Within the context of the United Nations Global Pulse initiative on monitoring the impact of crisis on vulnerable populations, this report presents the results of a unique cross-national analysis that aims to investigate the possible effects of economic stress on crime. Using police-recorded crime data for the crimes of intentional homicide, robbery and motor vehicle theft, from fifteen country or city contexts across the world, the analysis examines in particular the period of global financial crisis in 2008/2009. As economic crisis may occur over a relatively short timescale, this period, as well as – in many cases – up to 20 years previously, are examined using high frequency (monthly) crime and economic data. The report finds that, whether in times of economic crisis or non-crisis, economic factors play an important role in the evolution of crime trends. Out of a total of fifteen countries examined, statistical modelling identifies an economic predictor for at least one crime type in twelve countries (80 percent), suggesting some overall association between economic changes and crime. In eleven of the fifteen countries examined, economic indicators showed significant changes suggestive of a period of economic crisis in 2008/2009. Both visual inspection of data series and statistical modelling suggest that in eight of these eleven ‘crisis’ countries, changes in economic factors were associated with changes in crime, leading to identifiable crime ‘peaks’ during the time of crisis. Violent property crime types such as robbery appeared most affected during times of crisis, with up to two-fold increases in some contexts during a period of economic stress. However, in some contexts, increases in homicide and motor vehicle theft were also observed. These findings are consistent with criminal motivation theory, which suggests that economic stress may increase the incentive for individuals to engage in illicit behaviours. In no case where it was difficult to discern a peak in crime was any decrease in crime observed. As such, the available data do not support a criminal opportunity theory that decreased levels of production and consumption may reduce some crime types, such as property crime, through the generation of fewer potential crime targets. For each country/city a number of individual crimes and economic variables were analyzed. Across all combinations, a significant association between an economic factor and a crime type was identified in around 47 percent of individual combinations. For each country, different combinations of crime and economic predictors proved to be significant. Among the two methods used to analyze the links between economic and crime factors (visualization and statistical modelling), different combinations of factors were found to be significant and in five cases the two methods identified the same variables. Three out of these five cases represented city contexts rather than national contexts. This may indicate that associations between crime and economic factors are best examined at the level of the smallest possible geographic unit. Where an association between one or more economic variables and crime outcomes were identified by statistical modelling, the model frequently indicated a lag time between changes in the economic variable and resultant impact on crime levels. The average lag time in the contexts examined was around four and half months. In this respect, it should be noted that the relationship between crime and economy is not necessarily uni-directional. Whilst there are theoretical arguments for why changes in economic conditions may affect crime, it could also be the case that crime itself impacts upon economic and developmental outcomes, such as when very high violent crime levels dissuade investment. During the statistical modelling process, crime was set as the ‘outcome’ variable and economic data as the ‘independent’ variable. As such, the model was not used to investigate the converse relationship – whether changes in crime could also help explain economic outcomes. The statistical model proved successful at forecasting possible changes in crime for a number of crime typecountry/ city contexts. Forecasting for a period of three months using a statistical model with economic predictors proved possible with reasonable accuracy (both in terms of direction and magnitude) in a number of different contexts, including both in times of crisis and non-crisis. Many of the forecasts are sufficiently accurate to be of value in a practical scenario. Crime forecasts sometimes led, however, to underestimation of crime changes, suggesting that modelling of crime changes is not optimal when based on economic predictors alone. Indeed, economic changes are not the only factor that may impact levels of crime. The presence of youth gangs, weapons availability, the availability and level of protection of potential targets, drug and alcohol consumption and the effectiveness of law enforcement activity all play a significant role in enabling or restraining overall crime levels. Although the challenges remain significant, this report demonstrates that – with comparatively few resources – a lot may be learned from the application of analytical techniques to existing data. Continued methodological development, including the creation of an online data reporting ‘portal’, as well as the strengthening of exchange of information and experience, between countries, has the potential to lay the foundation of a strong ‘early-warning’ system. The analysis reported here does not prove the existence of relationships between economic factors and crime. It does provide strong indications that certain associations are present, and that much may be gained from further investigation. If the impact of economic stress on crime trends can be further understood, and even forecasted in the short-term, then there is the potential to gain much through policy development and crime prevention action. Details: Vienna, Austria: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 14, 2012 at http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/GIVAS_Final_Report.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/GIVAS_Final_Report.pdf Shelf Number: 124137 Keywords: Crime RatesCrime TrendsEconomics and CrimeHomicideMotor Vehicle TheftRobbery |
Author: Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation Title: "I don't want another kid to die." Families of Victims Murdered by Juveniles Oppose Juvenile Executions Summary: The creation of the juvenile justice system rests on the belief that when a juvenile commits a crime a different kind of response is warranted as opposed to when an adult commits a crime. Therefore, juveniles typically receive sentences that focus on treatment rather than punishment, except in States that sentence juvenile offenders to death. In the United States, the opposition to the execution of juvenile offenders is growing with opinion polls showing that most people oppose the practice. This report examines the issue of the juvenile death penalty from the perspective of family members of victims killed by juvenile offenders and parents of juvenile offenders who have been executed. Individuals presented in this report are members of Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation. This is a national organization of homicide victims’ family members opposing the death penalty in all cases. It demonstrates that the issues surrounding the juvenile death penalty are victims’ issues too. The report is a statement against state killing of juveniles, presented by those who know violent loss most intimately and have been most directly affected by juvenile crimes. The members of human rights organization, Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation conclude that the juvenile death penalty has no place in a democratic society and that it is time to bring the law in line with the national consensus and abolish the juvenile death penalty. Details: Cambridge, MA: Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, 2004. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 3, 2012 at http://www.aclu.org/files/FilesPDFs/mvfr%20report.pdf Year: 2004 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclu.org/files/FilesPDFs/mvfr%20report.pdf Shelf Number: 124369 Keywords: Capital Punishment (U.S.)Death PenaltyHomicideJuvenile OffendersJuvenile VictimsViolent Crime |
Author: Owens, Emily G. Title: The Birth of the Organized Crime? The American Temperance Movement and Market-Based Violence Summary: Economic theory and anecdotal evidence suggest that the absence of formal contract enforcement increases systemic, or market-based, violence in illegal markets. Lack of substantial variation in market legality has prevented empirical evaluation of the strength of this association. Using a state-level panel of age-specific homicide rates between 1900 and 1940, I demonstrate that criminalization of alcohol markets led to a compression of the age distribution of homicide victims. Specifically, homicide rates for individuals between the ages of 20 and 30 increased relative to homicide rates for individuals under 20 and over 30. The compression of the age distribution of homicide victims was most evident in northern states and in states with large immigrant and urban populations. Using modern homicide data, I show that this age specific change in homicide rates is consistent with an increase in systemic violence, supporting the argument that the temperance movement contributed to the rise of organized crime in the United States. Banning the commercial sale of alcohol appears to have had a protective effect for children and mature adults, but this came at the expense of increasing the rate of violence among young adults. Details: Unpublished paper, 2011. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 10, 2012 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1865347 Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1865347 Shelf Number: 124912 Keywords: Alcohol Related CrimeHomicideIllegal MarketsOrganized CrimeProhibitionViolent Crime |
Author: American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan Title: Basic Decency: Protecting t5he Human Rights of Children Summary: Six years ago, through polling and focus groups, citizens of Michigan were asked this question: “How should we treat Michigan youth involved in homicide crimes?” People weighed the importance of just punishment, the need for public safety, and also considered their social responsibility to the troubled youth involved in the crime. Results revealed that these Michigan residents were deeply concerned that the most severe sentence our state laws can impose on an adult who commits murder is likewise imposed on a child who did not. They were also uncomfortable to learn that Michigan’s current laws do not allow a jury or a judge to consider a juvenile’s age, abusive upbringing, troubled environment, lack of maturity, or their potential for rehabilitation before imposing adult punishment. Most of those polled were unaware that hundreds of adolescents in our state, some as young as 14, have been sentenced to die in prison without an opportunity to demonstrate their remorse, show their potential for rehabilitation, or prove that they pose no risk to society. The 2006 polling revealed strong public opposition to our current laws, which require sentencing all young people between the ages of 14 and 17, who are convicted of an offense involving a first-degree homicide, to spend the rest of their lives in adult prison without any opportunity for parole. When faced with the issue, people in Michigan strongly supported eliminating the life without parole sentence for juveniles.1 They recognized the distinct differences between adults and developing adolescents, and supported sentencing practices that would protect youthful offenders from the adult consequences of their decisions.2 In 2008 a bipartisan majority of the Michigan House of Representatives passed legislation that would end Michigan’s practice of sentencing young people under the age of 18 to life without parole. The Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee refused to release these bills for a vote and the laws mandating this punishment remain in place. Introduction To date, 376 young people have been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in Michigan. Only one other state has more. In recent years, editorials in major media outlets have called for, at minimum, judicial discretion in sentencing. Some legislators who initially favored this punishment for youth have since called for reform. Former Representative Burton Leland, a Democrat from Detroit, repudiating his initial support of the 1995 Juvenile Justice Reform Act explained, “We wanted to let thugs know that they can’t hide behind their mother’s apron. Now, 25 years later, I think locking youthful offenders up for life is ridiculous.” 3 Prosecutors, who are central opponents of juvenile life without parole reform, often make the argument of “adult time for adult crime.” However, most adults do not spend the rest of their lives in prison for comparable homicide crimes because prosecutors have full discretion to offer plea bargains of a lesser sentence to those adults charged with homicide crimes. Even where children are offered plea bargains, they are at a significant disadvantage in negotiating these same pleas. In fact, young people in Michigan are more likely to receive longer sentences than adults for comparable offenses. This report examines the arguments for and against reforming Michigan’s laws that mandate a life without parole sentence for youth involved in certain homicide crimes. It addresses the disadvantages children face in the adult criminal justice system and analyzes the data resulting from the implementation of this sentence. This report also explores the fiscal and human costs of sentencing a young person to life without parole (LWOP) in Michigan. Details: Detroit, MI: ACLU of Michigan, 2012. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 16, 2012 at: http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/file/BasicDecencyReport2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/file/BasicDecencyReport2012.pdf Shelf Number: 125310 Keywords: HomicideJuvenile Offenders (Michigan)Life ImprisonmentLife SentenceLife Without Parole, JuvenilesSentencing, Juveniles |
Author: Cheng, Cheng Title: Does Strengthening Self-Defense Law Deter Crime or Escalate Violence? Evidence from Castle Doctrine Summary: Since Florida adopted the first castle doctrine law in 2005, more than 20 other states have passed similar self-defense laws that justify the use of deadly force in a wider set of circumstances. Elements of these laws include removing the duty to retreat in places outside of one’s home, adding a presumption of reasonable belief of imminent harm necessitating a lethal response, and removing civil liability for those acting under the law. This paper examines whether aiding self-defense in this way deters crime or, alternatively, escalates violence. To do so, we apply a difference-in-differences research design by exploiting the within-state variation in law adoption. We find no evidence of deterrence; burglary, robbery, and aggravated assault are unaffected by the laws. On the other hand, we find that murder and non-negligent manslaughter are increased by 7 to 9 percent. This could represent either increased use of lethal force in self-defense situations, or the escalation of violence in otherwise non-lethal situations. Regardless, the results indicate that a primary consequence of strengthening self-defense law is increased homicide. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2012. 36p. Source: NBER Working Paper 18134: Internet Resource: Accessed June 20, 2012 at http://www.nber.org/papers/w18134.pdf?new_window=1 Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w18134.pdf?new_window=1 Shelf Number: 125387 Keywords: Castle DoctrineDeterrenceHomicideLegislationSelf-DefenseViolent Crime |
Author: Fearon, James D. Title: Homicide data, third revision - Background paper prepared for the WDR 2011 team Summary: This brief paper summarizes results from an analysis of the WDR Homicide dataset (February 24, 2010), which is based primarily on estimates from the UNODC, with some changes or additions from national sources and the WHO. Although homicide rates appear to be the most reliable cross-national measure of crime, the best estimates we have are still probably much less reliable than parallel measures we have for presence and scale of civil conflict involving organized armed groups. This is so for two main reasons. First, the data are collected and reported by country agencies (police, usually), and procedures, definitions, and competence can vary greatly across countries and over time within them. Looking at the time series for particular countries suggests in many cases that large changes must be due to changed procedures or data collection policies, rather than changes in actual homicide rates. Second, there is a great deal of missing data. About 62% of all country years since 1960 have no homicide rate estimate, and about 47% of all country years since 1990. And of course, the data is not “missing at random” at all. Coverage is particular poor for lower income countries as indicated by Table 1, which shows the number of countries with homicide estimates, by region, for the year with the largest number of observations (2005). Notice that we have data for only 14 of 48 subSaharan Africa countries even in the best year, and for only 16 of 37 countries in Asia. It is entirely possible, even likely, that results for “global” models run below would be change if we had data for more of these missing Africa and Asian low income countries. As it is, it should be kept in mind that the global sample effectively overweights Western, Eastern European/FSU, and Latin American countries. Summary points: Homicide rates have been increasing markedly in Latin American and Caribbean countries since the early 1990s. There has been a slight tendency for higher homicide levels in drug producing or trafficking countries, but not very large. Basically, there has been an increase in homicide rates in the whole region; Elsewhere homicide rates appear to have either stayed steady or declined over the last 20 years, although for several regions we only have time-series data for a few countries (Africa, Asia, North Africa/Middle East in particular); Homicide rates tend to be highest in middle income countries, although this could be due to some correlated regional effect (esp. Latin America) rather than a causal effect of income level; Homicide rates tend to be higher in countries with greater income inequality, and this pattern seems to hold even when we compare countries within the same region. It is not clear why this is the case, and whether it is a causal effect; Homicide rates tend to be higher in democracies versus autocracies. This is true both across countries and when we look at the effect of transitions to democracy within countries. This may be a causal effect – it may be that authoritarian states have more aggressive, oppressive, and/or competent police forces than do typical new democracies, making for less crime in general. It could also be a measurement issue – perhaps autocracies are less inclined to report homicides. Higher economic growth rates predict lower homicide rates, even comparing periods within countries; Most of the correlates of civil war/conflict onset do not predict higher homicide rates. Higher income works the same way for both; richer countries have lower conflict risk and lower homicides. Democracy is essentially unrelated to conflict risk (controlling for income level), but associates with higher homicide rates; Measures of better governance in 1996 and 1998 are associated with lower homicide rates in the period 2000-2005. This relationship appears even when we control for income in 2000-2005. Interestingly, it only appears if we also control for degree of democracy, because it turns out that democracy is correlated with better governance but also with more homicides. Thus, comparing countries at similar levels of income and democracy, the ones judged to be better governed in terms of corruption, “government effectiveness,” regulatory quality, and (perhaps not surprisingly) “rule of law” in the late 1990s had lower homicide rates in 2000-2005. Details: Department of Political Science, Stanford University, 2011. 25p. Source: Background paper prepared for the WDR 2011 team: Internet Resource: Accessed September 30, 2012 at http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2011/06/01/000356161_20110601045939/Rendered/PDF/620370WP0Homic0BOX0361475B00PUBLIC0.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2011/06/01/000356161_20110601045939/Rendered/PDF/620370WP0Homic0BOX0361475B00PUBLIC0.pdf Shelf Number: 126513 Keywords: Crime RatesCrime StatisticsHomicide |
Author: Salomon, Mereth Pauline von Title: Motherhood On Trial: The American Media's Reception of the Filicide Cases of Susan Smith, Andrea Yates, and Casey Anthony Summary: In 2008, two year old Caylee Anthony was reported missing, and a frantic search for the toddler began. In December 2008, the child's body was found in a wooded area close to her mother Casey's parent's house. Casey Anthony was then charged with murder of her daughter. In 2011, Ms. Anthony was found not guilty of killing her daughter. But most Americans – until this day - are convinced that Casey Anthony had gotten rid of her child because she had wanted to continue living her party-life and date men, accusations lined with a loathing of promiscuity and women's sexuality, even though the evidence brought forward against her was not enough to prove the charges pressed against her. I cannot – and neither do I want to – pass judgment about whether or not Anthony's acquittal was justified. What this study aims to do, however, is to lay out how cases of maternal filicide in the United States are reacted to in the American media, an idea that I had shortly after the Anthony trial ended. Even though I had not followed the Anthony trial in its entirety, it became inescapable for me on the Internet. My Facebook Newsfeed blew up on July 5th 2011, the day when Casey Anthony was found not guilty. Many of my friends posted angry statuses about the verdict, several of them calling the outcome of this trial a “crime” in itself. One friend wrote that if Dexter (the homicidal main character of popular TV Show Dexter who brutally kills murderers who had gone unpunished) was real, he would pay Anthony a friendly visit. Ever since then, the Anthony case has been on my mind. I was surprised, flabbergasted even, about what had happened here. I wondered what outraged my friends and millions of people in America about this trial. Were they really just concerned with Caylee (and the justice she arguably had not gotten)? Why did they hate Anthony so much, and what freedom to voice their opinions did the Internet give them? Was Anthony such a target because she was a beautiful young woman who seemed to hide her real face from the world? Or was her single motherhood the real problem at hand - did Americans loathe Anthony so much because she was not what people thought a mother should be? And if that would be the case, what do Americans expect from mothers? These questions form the foundation for this study. In order to answer them, next to the case of Casey Anthony, the media's reception of the cases of Susan Smith and Andrea Yates will be covered. Newspaper and magazine articles will be taken as mirrors and catalysts of public opinion, with the Internet also taking up some room in this study's discussion of the Anthony case. Details: Utrecht, The Netherlands: Utrecht University, 2012. 153p. Source: Internet Resource: Master's Thesis: Accessed October 1, 2012 at: http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/student-theses/2012-0719-200734/Master'sThesis-Mereth%20von%20SalomonPDF.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/student-theses/2012-0719-200734/Master'sThesis-Mereth%20von%20SalomonPDF.pdf Shelf Number: 126530 Keywords: Child HomicideFilicide (U.S.)HomicideMass MediaMurderMurderers |
Author: Liem, Marieke Christine Agatha Title: Homicide Followed by Suicide. An Empirical Analysis Summary: When headlines such as the ones above confront us every now and then our illusion of safety is shattered: the perpetrator is not a stranger, but someone who is well‐known to us. Although already considered to be incomprehensible, when in such killings the perpetrator subsequently kills himself, we remain puzzled. The event is even more puzzling given the fact that usually, these perpetrators are older, white men, who do not have a criminal record (Marzuk et al., 1992; Stack, 1997), thereby challenging our idea of the ‘conventional’ criminal. Some see the perpetrator as a victim of his own acts, whereas others are of the opinion that his suicide is spiteful as he cannot be brought to justice for his4 cruel acts. Acts in which a homicide is followed by the suicide of the perpetrator are termed homicide‐suicides. So far our knowledge of homicide‐suicide is remarkably limited, particularly in the Netherlands. In the first place, this concerns our empirical knowledge of the phenomenon. Given the differences in their very nature, both homicide and suicide have mostly been studied independently, or, as Stack has (1997) has pointed out: “Research on homicide has neglected suicide and research on suicide has neglected homicide”. Even though numerous studies have been conducted on both homicide (for an overview, see Nieuwbeerta & Leistra, 2003) and on suicide (e.g. Garssen & Hoogenboezem, 2007; Neeleman, 1998) in the Netherlands and elsewhere, up until now only a limited number of studies have undertaken the endeavor to examine homicide‐suicides theoretically and empirically. Compared to the studies carried out on homicide and suicide, research on homicide‐suicide is considerably limited. A second gap in our knowledge exists regarding theoretical approaches to homicide-suicide. So far, no comprehensive theoretical approach to the homicide‐suicide phenomenon has been developed. Rather, from a current theoretical point of view homicide‐suicide constitutes a combination of both homicide and suicide, both types of lethal violence resulting from aggressive impulses. These theories, however, do not clarify under which circumstances one chooses to commit one type of lethal violence over another type – and they certainly do not explain the occurrence of a homicide - suicide. Homicide‐suicide is typically regarded as a variation of homicidal behaviour, where the subsequent suicide is the result of feelings of guilt or a fear of the judicial consequences, or as a variation of suicidal behavior, in which the victim is ‘taken along’ in the suicide of the perpetrator (Cavan, 1928; Milroy, 1993; West, 1965). The fact that we hardly have any adequate empirical or theoretical knowledge on homicide‐suicide has major implications both from a criminal justice and a public health perspective. Within the criminal justice system, particularly concerning detention facilities, there is a need to distinguish suicidal from non‐suicidal homicide perpetrators. DuRand et al. (1995), for example, have shown that a charge of murder or manslaughter poses an important risk factor in prison suicide. Various other studies have found that the majority of those committing suicide in prison were accused of murder or manslaughter (Danto, 1989; Salive et al., 1989; Smialek & Spitz, 1978). Yet, none of these studies regarded the suicide as a reaction to the initial homicide. Rather, the homicide is considered as a correlate rather than a cause of prison suicide. Distinguishing suicidal from non‐suicidal homicide perpetrators might allow for improvements in the prevention of suicide in detention. From a public health perspective, considering homicide‐suicide as primarily homicidal implies that prevention measures for homicide are parallel with those for homicide‐suicide. Similarly, considering homicide‐suicide as primarily suicidal infers that similar prevention measures for suicide might contribute to preventing homicidesuicides. However, perceiving of homicide‐suicide as a separate phenomenon might require a different approach to prevention altogether. To sum up, homicide followed by the suicide of the perpetrator constitutes a neglected phenomenon in the scientific realm. This study aims to increase our knowledge of homicide‐suicide in at least four ways, namely by: 1. Systematically reviewing previous empirical studies on homicide‐suicide as well as previous theoretical notions connected with the homicide‐suicide phenomenon; 2. Describing the nature and incidence of homicide‐suicide in the Netherlands and putting these findings into an international perspective; 3. Advancing the state of knowledge by not only assessing homicide‐suicides in isolation, but by comparing these acts to both homicide and suicide, in that way coming to an understanding of which characteristics explain the occurrence of homicide‐suicide relative to other types of lethal violence; 4. Empirically assessing existing theoretical assumptions on homicide‐suicide. Details: Utrecht, The Netherlands: Utrecht University, 2010. 257p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed October 5, 2012 at: http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/2010-0204-200151/liem.pdf Year: 2010 Country: International URL: http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/2010-0204-200151/liem.pdf Shelf Number: 126559 Keywords: HomicideMurderSuicideViolent Crime |
Author: Violence Policy Center Title: Black Homicide Victimization in the United States: An Analysis of 2009 Homicide Data Summary: America faces a continuing epidemic of homicide among young black males. The devastation homicide inflicts on black teens and adults is a national crisis, yet it is all too often ignored outside of affected communities. This study examines the problem of black homicide victimization at the state level by analyzing unpublished Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data for black homicide victimization submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The information used for this report is for the year 2009 and is the most recent data available. This is the first analysis of the 2009 data on black homicide victims to offer breakdowns of cases in the 10 states with the highest black homicide victimization rates and the first to rank the states by the rate of black homicides. It is important to note that the SHR data used in this report comes from law enforcement reporting at the local level. While there are coding guidelines followed by the law enforcement agencies, the amount of information submitted to the SHR system, and the interpretation that results in the information submitted (for example, gang involvement) will vary from agency to agency. While this study utilizes the best and most recent data available, it is limited by the quantity and degree of detail in the information submitted. Details: Washington, DC: Violence Policy Center, 2012. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 15, 2012 at http://www.vpc.org/studies/blackhomicide12.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.vpc.org/studies/blackhomicide12.pdf Shelf Number: 126932 Keywords: African AmericansCrime StatisticsCrime TrendsHomicideVictimization |
Author: Walsh, C. Title: Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths - First Report Summary: This Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths (VSRFVD) commenced operation in the Coroners Court of Victoria in 2009. Led by the State Coroner, it focuses attention on the context in which family violence-related homicides and homicide-suicide incidents occur. Through coroners’ findings, comments and recommendations, the VSRFVD contributes to strengthening the response to family violence in this state. This report presents the key findings of the VSRFVD during 2009-2012. It draws upon the analysis of deaths involving infants, children and adults, across a range of relationship categories. Findings from the two main activities of the VSRFVD are presented in detail: data collection and analysis, and in-depth case review. Homicide statistics reveal that deaths among intimate partners and other family members form a substantial proportion of the total number of incidents recorded each year. In particular, intimate partner homicides typically comprise the largest category of these deaths. Section 1 of this report presents a descriptive statistical overview of the frequency of intimate and familial homicide in Australia and other high-income countries. A central component of the VSRFVD involves data collection and analysis of homicide, including homicide among family members. Section 2 of this report presents an overview of these deaths in Victoria for the period 2000-2010. A substantial proportion of homicides identified by the CCOV during this period were determined to be relevant to the VSRFVD. Specifically, just over half (53%) involved an intimate partner or other family member, or otherwise occurred in a context of family violence. Among deaths of relevance to the VSRFVD, intimate partner homicides comprised the largest group (47%), followed by incidents involving parents and children (26%). Although males comprised a larger proportion of the total number of homicides that were identified, females were more often killed by an intimate partner or other family member. Domestic and family violence death reviews conducted in other jurisdictions typically consider relevant deaths as a connected group, rather than isolated incidents. This approach enables the identification of common patterns or themes among fatal events. Accordingly, Section 3 of this report presents the findings of a thematic analysis of 28 case reviews completed by the VSRFVD team for metropolitan and regional coroners. Many of the known risk and contributory factors associated with escalating and severe violence described in the research literature were identified as relevant to the incidents that were examined. These included: a history of family violence; relationship separation; threats of harm; alcohol misuse; and the presence of a mental illness. In addition, factors associated with the increased vulnerability of victims, such as having a disability or culturally and linguistically diverse background, were noted among the cases that were reviewed. Additional themes that emerged included: barriers for victims disclosing family violence; a need for increased community understanding and recognition of this problem; and the regularity of victim contact with the health and justice system. A broad spectrum of family violence deaths feature in this report. The evidence gathered confirms the need to be cognisant of recognised risk factors and the importance of building a responsive service system that is able to identify and respond appropriately. The system gaps, coronial recommendations and associated responses presented in this analysis are a valuable starting point from which further research and prevention efforts can be made. Accordingly, Section 4 draws attention to three focus areas for strengthening the service system, increasing victim safety and improving the response to family violence in this state. Details: Melbourne: Coroners Court of Victoria, 2012. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 5, 2012 at: http://www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/resources/54bbc2f9-bb23-45c0-9672-16c6bd1a0e0f/vsrfvd+first+report+-+final+version.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: http://www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/resources/54bbc2f9-bb23-45c0-9672-16c6bd1a0e0f/vsrfvd+first+report+-+final+version.pdf Shelf Number: 127133 Keywords: Child HomicideFamily Violence (Australia)HomicideIntimate Partner Violence |
Author: Violence Policy Center Title: When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2010 Homicide Data - Females Murdered by Males in Single Victim/Single Offender Incidents Summary: The annual VPC report details national and state-by-state information on female homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender. The study uses the most recent data available from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s unpublished Supplementary Homicide Report and is released each year to coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. Nationwide, 1,800 females were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2010. Where weapon use could be determined, firearms were the most common weapon used by males to murder females (849 of 1,622 homicides or 52 percent). Of these, 70 percent (597 of 849) were committed with handguns. In cases where the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 94 percent of female victims (1,571 out of 1,669) were murdered by someone they knew. Of these, 65 percent (1,017 out of 1,571) were wives or intimate acquaintances of their killers. Sixteen times as many females were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers. In 88 percent of all incidents where the circumstances could be determined, the homicides were not related to the commission of any other felony, such as rape or robbery. Details: Washington, DC: Violence Policy Center, 2012. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 22, 2012 at http://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2012.pdf Shelf Number: 127258 Keywords: Crime RatesCrime StatisticsHomicideMurderViolence Against Women |
Author: Bhalla, Kavi Title: Tracking National Homicide Rates: Generating Estimates Using Vital Registration Data Summary: Violent deaths make up a substantial proportion of global mortality and morbidity. While reliable data is not available from much of the world, estimates from international studies suggest that between 526,000 and 600,000 violent deaths are committed annually, accounting for around one per cent of global deaths. Among young adult males, deaths from intentional interpersonal violence (hereafter referred to as ‘homicides’) account for over ten per cent of all deaths globally. In addition to deaths, interpersonal violence leads to substantial disability resulting from nonfatal injuries. Together, these deaths and injuries account for 1.3 per cent of the total global burden of disease and injury. This Issue Brief analyses the regional availability and quality of death registration data for estimating the national incidence of homicides. Key findings include: While death registration data is available for most high-income countries, its availability is erratic in other regions. Data is available for many countries from the Caribbean, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Central Europe. However, little or no death registration data is available from countries in Africa, South Asia, and South-east Asia; Death registration-based homicide estimates provide useful insight into the global distribution of violence: Homicide rates are substantially higher in Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and the four Latin American regions, as compared with other regions of the world; Homicide rates are relatively low in high-income countries, the notable exception being the United States; Homicide rates are relatively stable in many regions and declining in Central and Eastern Europe; Homicide rates are lowest among the youngest and oldest age groups in most countries. However, homicide rates peak among young adults (15–29 years) in some regions and among older adults (45–59 years) in others; Firearms and sharp objects are the two most common mechanisms of homicide. Firearms are the most common mechanism of homicides in the most violent countries (those with the highest total homicide rates). The following section describes how death registration data is collected and presents a method with which to test certain aspects of its quality. The results of applying such quality tests to global death registration data are outlined. Finally, this Issue Brief discusses the implications of these findings for future research on improving estimates of national and regional homicide rates using data from the health sector. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Small Arms Survey, 2012. 12p., app. Source: Internet Resource: Issue Brief, No. 1: Accessed January 24, 2013 at: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/G-Issue-briefs/SAS-AVD-IB1-tracking-homicide.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/G-Issue-briefs/SAS-AVD-IB1-tracking-homicide.pdf Shelf Number: 127377 Keywords: Crime StatisticsGun ViolenceHomicideInterpersonal ViolenceViolence (International)Violent Crime |
Author: Ruther, Matthew Howard Title: Essays on the Spatial Clustering of Immigrants and Internal Migration within the United States Summary: The chapters in this dissertation each look at some aspect of immigration or internal migration in the United States, highlighting the spatial nature of population distribution and mobility. Chapters 1 and 2 focus on the effect of immigrant residential clustering on crime and Chapter 3 explores the internal migration behavior of Puerto Ricans. In the first chapter, we investigate the effect of immigrant concentration on patterns of homicide in Los Angeles County. We also suggest an alternative method by which to define immigrant neighborhoods. Our results indicate that immigrant concentration confers a protective effect against homicide mortality, an effect that remains after controlling for other neighborhood structural factors that are commonly associated with homicide. Controlling for the spatial dependence in homicides reduces the magnitude of the effect, but it remains significant. Chapter 2 examines how foreign born population concentration impacts homicide rates at the county level. This chapter utilizes a longitudinal study design to reveal how changes in the immigrant population in the county are associated with changes in the homicide rate. The analysis is carried out using a spatial panel regression model which allows for cross-effects between neighboring counties. The results show that increasing foreign born population concentration is associated with reductions in the homicide rate, a process observed most clearly in the South region of the United States. In Chapter 3 we explore the internal migration patterns of Puerto Ricans in the United States, comparing the migration behavior of individuals born in Puerto Rico to those born in the United States. Second and higher generation Puerto Ricans are more mobile than their first generation counterparts, likely an outcome of the younger age structure and greater human capital of this former group. Puerto Ricans born in the United States also appear to be less influenced by the presence of existing Puerto Rican communities when making migration decisions. Both mainland- and island-born Puerto Rican populations are spatially dispersing, with the dominant migration stream for both groups being between New York and Florida. Details: Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2012. 159p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed February 26, 2013 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/239863.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/239863.pdf Shelf Number: 127715 Keywords: HomicideIllegal ImmigrantsImmigrants and CrimeImmigrationNeighborhoods and CrimePuerto Rican Immigrants |
Author: McGarrell, Edmund Title: Promising Strategies for Violence Reduction: Lessons from Two Decades of Innovation Summary: Since reaching peak levels in the early 1990s, the United States has witnessed a significant decline in levels of homicide and gun-related crime. Indeed, whereas in 1991 there were more than 24,000 homicides in the United States (9.8 per 100,000 population), this number declined to less than 15,000 in 2010 (4.8 per 100,000 population) (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2011). Similarly, the number of violent victimizations declined from more than 16 million in 1993 to less than six million in 2011 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2013). Although the decline is certainly welcome, violent crime and homicide continue to exact a heavy toll in terms of the impact on victims, families, offenders, and neighborhoods. Indeed, some estimates put the cost of a homicide at more than $17 million per incident (DeLisi et al., 2010). Given these human and fiscal costs, it becomes critical to identify evidence-based practices that local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies, criminal justice partners, community-based organizations, social service providers, governmental officials, and citizens can consider for possible implementation in their communities. Fortunately, since the mid-1990s several promising interventions have emerged with varying degrees of empirical support for their ability to prevent and reduce levels of crime and violence at the local level. These interventions share some common elements, although they vary in other respects. Different communities also make adaptations to these interventions when they implement them. This situation can make it difficult to specify the key dimensions of each intervention when transferring to other settings. To add to the confusion, two of the initiatives discussed below are commonly referred to as “Ceasefire” and some cities participating in the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative have also used the “Ceasefire” terminology. The following attempts to briefly describe the key elements of each intervention, their commonalities and their differences, and to summarize the existing research. Citations to the many reports that exist on these initiatives are provided so that interested readers can learn more about these efforts. Details: East Lansing, MI: School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, 2013. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Project Safe Neighborhoods Case Study Report #13; Accessed June 3, 2013 at: https://www.bja.gov/Publications/MSU_PromisingViolenceReductionInitiatives.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: https://www.bja.gov/Publications/MSU_PromisingViolenceReductionInitiatives.pdf Shelf Number: 128927 Keywords: GangsGun ViolenceGun-Related Violence (U.S.)HomicideProgram CeasefireProject Safe Neighborhoods - Program Ceasefire |
Author: Lehti, Martti Title: NRILP Comparative Homicide Time Series (NRILP-CHTS) Summary: Homicide research has been a long-standing research focus in Finnish criminology and also in the research programme of the National Research Institute of Legal Policy (Lappi-Seppala 2001). This traditional emphasis refl ects the fact that Finnish homicide rates have been for a long time higher than homicide rates in other Nordic countries (Savolainen et al. 2008; Kivivuori & Lehti 2011; Kivivuori et al. 2012). Homicide scholarship inspired by the comparatively high Finnish homicide rates also contributed to early international comparative data building. Refl ecting this research programme, the NRILP created the Finnish Homicide Monitor (Lehti & Kivivuori 2012) in 2002 and has subsequently participated in ongoing efforts to create a European Homicide Monitor (Granath et al. 2011; Liem et al. 2013). The NRILP Comparative Homicide Time Series (NRILP-CHTS) continues these research emphases. Its goal is to serve as an additional research asset for international homicide research. The CHTS dataset incorporates data on homicide levels and trends drawn from publicly available national and international sources. Currently it includes information on annual homicide rates and numbers of 193 independent countries, 40 self-governing regions, and 17 historical administrative entities. Annual numbers of homicide victims by gender are available for 124 independent countries, 33 self-governing regions, and 12 historical administrative entities; annual homicide mortality rates by gender for 103 independent countries, 13 self-governing regions, and 6 historical administrative entities. For each country, the longest possible time series duration has been incorporated. The dataset is updated annually. Details: Helsinki: National Research Institute of Legal Policy, 2013. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Brief 32/2013: Accessed November 6, 2013 at: http://www.optula.om.fi/Satellite?blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobcol=urldata&SSURIapptype=BlobServer&SSURIcontainer=Default&SSURIsession=false&blobkey=id&blobheadervalue1=inline;%20filename=kansainv%C3%A4linen%20henkirikollisuus%2032%20eng.pdf&SSURIsscontext=Satellite%20Server&blobwhere=1382644107526&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&ssbinary=true&blobheader=application/pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.optula.om.fi/Satellite?blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobcol=urldata&SSURIapptype=BlobServer&SSURIcontainer=Default&SSURIsession=false&blobkey=id&blobheadervalue1=inline;%20filename=kansainv%C3%A4linen%20henkirikollisuus%20 Shelf Number: 131585 Keywords: Crime StatisticsHomicide Violent Crimes |
Author: Coy, Maddy Title: Violent Disorder in Ciudad Juarez: A Spatial Analysis of Homicide Summary: This HASOW Discussion Paper considers how demographic and socioeconomic factors correlate with homicidal violence in the context of Mexico's "war on drugs". We draw on Ciudad Juarez as a case study and social disorganization theory as an organizing framework. Social disorganization is expected to produce higher levels of homicidal violence. And while evidence detects several social disorganization factors associated with homicidal violence in Ciudad Juarez not all relationships appear as predicted by the theory. Drawing on public census and crime data, our statistical assessment detects 6 significant variables (or risks) positively associated with homicidal violence in Ciudad Juarez between 2009 and 2010. Likewise, the assessment finds 6 specific variables (or protective factors) that are negatively associated with above average homicide in the city between 2009 and 2010. The data and level of analysis do not conclusively present causation, nor was this the intent. Rather, we propose a baseline model for testing spatial-temporal dynamics of organized violence. Details: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Humanitarian Action in Situations other than War (HASOW), 2012. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: HASOW Discussion Paper 1: Accessed March 20, 2014 at: http://www.hasow.org/uploads/trabalhos/68/doc/1934668792.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.hasow.org/uploads/trabalhos/68/doc/1934668792.pdf Shelf Number: 131979 Keywords: Drug-Related ViolenceHomicideMurdersViolenceViolent CrimeWar on Drugs |
Author: British Columbia. Missing Women Commission of Inquiry Title: Forsaken: The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry Summary: The Commission Report consists of four volumes: Volume I: The Women, Their Lives and the Framework of Inquiry: Setting the Context for Understanding and Change. It provides the framework for the Inquiry's factual findings and conclusions and for its broader policy advisory responsibilities, which focus on recommendations for forward-looking change. Emphasis has been placed on developing a contextualized framework: context is the setting for a particular idea or event, a set of circumstances or facts that surround an event or situation that give it meaning. The missing and murdered women investigations were not isolated events; they must be situated and assessed relative to a bigger picture. This contextual framework comprises of four elements: The international, national and provincial dimensions of the crisis of missing and murdered women; - The women as individuals; - The women as a group and their lives in the DTES; and - The legal and policy framework for police investigations of missing women and suspected multiple homicides. Volume II: Nobodies: How and Why We Failed the Missing and Murdered Women. It contains my findings of facts and conclusions pertaining to the police investigations framed by four main parts: - The police investigation into the assault on Ms. Anderson and the decision to stay proceedings against Pickton in January 1998; - An overview of the missing and murdered women investigations designed to serve as a narrative account upon which further analysis is carried out, including a timeline of key events to assist the reader; - An analysis of the seven main critical police failures; and - An analysis of the underlying causes of these critical police failures. Due to its size, Volume II is printed in two volumes: Volume IIA and Volume IIB. A summary of my findings of facts and conclusions is included at the end of Volume IIB. Volume III: Gone, but not Forgotten: Building the Women's Legacy of Safety Together. This volume summarizes the information gathered through the study commission process and sets out my recommendations for reform. The framing of the recommendations is closely tied to the factual conclusions that I reached in Volume II. The discussion and recommendations are set out in relation to what I identify as the ten components of the missing women's legacy: - Laying the foundation for effective change: acknowledging the harm and fostering healing and reconciliation; - Renewing our commitment to equal protection of the law through practical measures; - Listening, learning and responding: strategies to prevent violence against marginalized women in the DTES and other urban areas; - Standing together and moving forward: strategies to prevent violence against Aboriginal and rural women; - Fostering innovation and standardization: a framework for best practices in missing person investigations; - Enhancing police investigations of missing persons and suspected multiple homicides; - Committing to a regional police force in Greater Vancouver; - Facilitating effective multi-jurisdictional responses to crime; - Ensuring police accountability to the communities they serve; and - Assuring the women's legacy: implementation, change management and evaluation. A summary of my recommendations is included at the end of Volume III and at the end of this Executive Summary. Volume IV: The Commission's Process. It contains materials related to the Commission's process and is meant to provide a public record of the work that led to the preparation of this report. The first section is a detailed overview of the Commission's approach to the hearings and study commission processes. The remaining sections provide information about the Commission's work including the Terms of Reference, a list of Commission personnel, a list of Participants and Counsel, practice and procedure guidelines and directives, a list of witnesses at the evidentiary hearings, a list of oral and written submissions to the study commission, and a list of Commission studies and reports. Details: Victoria, BC: Missing Women Commission on Inquiry, 2012. 180p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 21, 2014 at: http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/public_inquiries/docs/Forsaken-ES.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Canada URL: http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/public_inquiries/docs/Forsaken-ES.pdf Shelf Number: 132100 Keywords: Criminal InvestigationsHomicideMissing PersonsMissing WomenMurderSerial MurderViolence Against Women |
Author: Sebire, Jacqueline Title: Love and Lethal Violence: An Analysis of Intimate partner Homicides Committee in London, 1998-2009 Summary: On the evening of 31st October 2003, North London, four hours and six miles separated two homicides. A man ran over his fiancee meanwhile a woman stabbed her lover. The circumstances of these murders are different but both involve the death of intimate partners. This research examines whether there is any difference in the way men and women kill their lovers. The question is answered through three levels of analysis. Firstly an assessment of quantitative gender differences by examining 207 intimate partner homicides committed in London between 1998 and 2009. Secondly through a series of nonparametric tests on victim, suspect, relationship and offence characteristics to establish any variables are associated with or predictive of perpetrator gender. Finally results were considered in light of feminist criminology and evolutionary psychology, the preeminent theories of intimate partner homicide. The answers were not as simplistic as the question. Female offending was associated with quarrels, intoxication, self-defence, killing by stabbing and the presence of step-children. Male offending was motivated by infidelity or separation. Men exhibited more varied means of killing and were likely to kill themselves and others. A couple's age discrepancy and level of intoxication were key elements of intimate partner homicide. What was unexpected was the non-significant influence of precursor relationship violence. The results were at odds with both feminist and evolution theory which seat female violence within on-going male abuse. This study placed female offending within an immediate situational context rather than antecedent violence. This study is unique as it is based on privileged access to original Metropolitan Police case files. Such detailed analysis providing a view of London's Intimate Partner Homicide landscape had never conducted prior to this study. It is therefore of value to those professionals operating within the fields of domestic violence and homicide investigation as well as those who research it. Details: Leicester, UK: University of Leicester, 2013. 311p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed April 22, 2014 at: https://lra.le.ac.uk/handle/2381/28380 Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://lra.le.ac.uk/handle/2381/28380 Shelf Number: 132107 Keywords: HomicideIntimate Partner ViolenceMurderers |
Author: Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria Title: Justice or Judgement? The Impact of Victorian Homicide Law Reforms on Responses to Women Who Kill Intimate Partners Summary: Over the past decade in Australia, reviews of homicide laws have been undertaken in most jurisdictions with the aim of addressing concerns about legal responses to intimate partner homicides. In Victoria, problems were identified with the application of the partial defence of provocation, particularly in the case of men who kill their female intimate partners, while self-defence has been seen to be failing women who kill to protect themselves from their male partner's violence. In both contexts there has been a systemic failure to recognise the nature and impact of family violence. Significant changes to homicide laws were enacted in Victoria in 2005 which have been held up as a 'trendsetting' example of feminist-inspired reforms to remediate gender imbalances in legal responses (Ramsey 2010; Forell 2006). The rationale for key aspects of the reforms was to better accommodate the experiences of victims who kill violent family members (Victorian Law Reform Commission [VLRC] 2002; Australian Law Reform Commission [ALRC] and New South Wales Law Reform Commission [NSWLRC] 2010, p. 622). This discussion paper examines legal outcomes in the cases of women who have killed their intimate partners in the eight years since the reforms were implemented in Victoria. The focus of this paper is on whether, and to what extent, the reforms have improved the recognition of family violence and legal understandings of the circumstances in which women kill in response to violence by an intimate partner. Details: Melbourne: Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria, 2013. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper: Accessed April 22, 2014 at: http://dvrcv.sites.go1.com.au/sites/thelookout.sites.go1.com.au/files/DVRCV-DiscussionPaper-9-2013-web.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Australia URL: http://dvrcv.sites.go1.com.au/sites/thelookout.sites.go1.com.au/files/DVRCV-DiscussionPaper-9-2013-web.pdf Shelf Number: 132119 Keywords: Criminal LawDomestic ViolenceFamily ViolenceHomicideIntimate Partner ViolenceWomen Who Kill |
Author: Kirkwood, Debbie Title: 'Just Say Goodbye': Parents Who Kill Their Children in the Context of Separation Summary: This Discussion Paper, 'Just Say Goodbye', examines the motives and background to 'filicide' - the killing of children by a parent. While these deaths are often described in the media as 'inexplicable', this new research identifies a link between the killing of children and violence against women. The paper considers international research, Australian Institute of Criminology data and case examples of both fathers and mothers who kill their children. Details: Melbourne: Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria, 2012. 103p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper No. 8: Accessed May 3, 2014 at: http://www.dvrcv.org.au/sites/thelookout.sites.go1.com.au/files/%E2%80%98Just%20Say%20Goodbye%E2%80%99%20%28January%202013%20online%20edition%29.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: http://www.dvrcv.org.au/sites/thelookout.sites.go1.com.au/files/%E2%80%98Just%20Say%20Goodbye%E2%80%99%20%28January%202013%20online%20edition%29.pdf Shelf Number: 132219 Keywords: Family ViolenceFilicide (Australia)Homicide |
Author: Parks, Sharyn E. Title: Surveillance for Violent Deaths - National Violent Death Reporting System, 16 States, 2010 Summary: Problem/Condition: An estimated 55,000 persons die annually in the United States as a result of violence-related injuries. This report summarizes data from CDC's National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) regarding violent deaths from 16 U.S. states for 2010. Results are reported by sex, age group, race/ethnicity, marital status, location of injury, method of injury, circumstances of injury, and other selected characteristics. Reporting Period Covered: 2010. Description of System: NVDRS collects data regarding violent deaths obtained from death certificates, coroner/medical examiner reports, law enforcement reports, and secondary sources (e.g., child fatality review team data, supplementary homicide reports, hospital data, and crime laboratory data). NVDRS data collection began in 2003 with seven states (Alaska, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina, and Virginia) participating; six states (Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin) joined in 2004, four (California, Kentucky, New Mexico, and Utah) in 2005, and two in 2010 (Ohio and Michigan), for a total of 19 states. This report includes data from 16 states that collected statewide data in 2010; data from California are not included in this report because data were not collected after 2009. Ohio and Michigan were excluded because data collection, which began in 2010, did not occur statewide until 2011. Results: For 2010, a total of 15,781 fatal incidents involving 16,186 deaths were captured by NVDRS in the 16 states included in this report. The majority (62.8%) of deaths were suicides, followed by homicides and deaths involving legal intervention (i.e., deaths caused by law enforcement and other persons with legal authority to use deadly force, excluding legal executions) (24.4%), deaths of undetermined intent (12.2%), and unintentional firearm deaths (0.7%). Suicides occurred at higher rates among males, non-Hispanic whites, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and persons aged 45-54 years. Suicides most often occurred in a house or apartment and involved the use of firearms. Suicides were preceded primarily by a mental health or intimate partner problem, a crisis during the previous 2 weeks, or a physical health problem. Homicides occurred at higher rates among males and persons aged 20-24 years; rates were highest among non-Hispanic black males. The majority of homicides involved the use of a firearm and occurred in a house or apartment or on a street/highway. Homicides were precipitated primarily by arguments and interpersonal conflicts or in conjunction with another crime. Interpretation: This report provides a detailed summary of data from NVDRS for 2010. The results indicate that violent deaths resulting from self-inflicted or interpersonal violence disproportionately affected persons aged <55 years, males, and certain minority populations. For homicides and suicides, relationship problems, interpersonal conflicts, mental health problems, and recent crises were among the primary precipitating factors. Because additional information might be reported subsequently as participating states update their findings, the data provided in this report are preliminary. Public Health Action: For the occurrence of violent deaths in the United States to be better understood and ultimately prevented, accurate, timely, and comprehensive surveillance data are necessary. NVDRS data can be used to monitor the occurrence of violence-related fatal injuries and assist public health authorities in the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs and policies to reduce and prevent violent deaths at the national, state, and local levels. NVDRS data have been used to enhance prevention programs. Examples include use of linked NVDRS data and adult protective service data to better target elder maltreatment prevention programs and improve staff training to identify violent death risks for older adults in North Carolina, use of Oklahoma VDRS homicide data to help evaluate the effectiveness of a new police and advocate intervention at domestic violence incident scenes, and data-informed changes in primary care practice in Oregon to more effectively address older adult suicide prevention. The continued development and expansion of NVDRS is essential to CDC's efforts to reduce the personal, familial, and societal impacts of violence. Further efforts are needed to increase the number of states participating in NVDRS, with an ultimate goal of full national representation. Details: Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Morbidity and Mortality Weekley Report, January 17, 2014: Surveillance Summaries, vol. 63, no. 1: Accessed May 5, 2014 at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6301.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6301.pdf Shelf Number: 132233 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceFamily ViolenceHomicideSuicidesViolence-Related InjuriesViolent Crime |
Author: Bynum, Timothy Title: Evaluation of a Comprehensive Approach to Reducing Gun Violence in Detroit Summary: Increasingly criminal justice agencies are integrating "data based" approaches into their operational strategies. This "new" model of criminal justice suggests that analysis of data on recent crime and violence incidents can lead to a more focused and targeted effort than previous enforcement efforts. Through such efforts, individuals, groups, and locations that exhibit a high level of gun violence within a limited geographic area are identified and a variety of intervention are then implemented. These interventions typically include both enforcement as well as offender focused interventions. These efforts differ from prior enforcement strategies in that they emphasize the integration of a problem analysis component in which data analysis is used to identify the patterns of gun violence in a small target area and enforcement resources are concentrated in this area. However, this approach also differs from previous "crackdown" enforcement strategies in that there are also community and offender intervention components that are integral to this model. The community component seeks to identify ways in which the community can be involved in working with law enforcement to reduce gun violence in this area. This is often through increased community meetings, and establishing more frequent and effective means of communication between the community and local law enforcement. In addition, the enforcement strategies used in this model are data and intelligence driven. As such they are focused on identifying the most problematic locations, groups and individuals that are most responsible for gun violence in this community. This report documents the implementation and outcomes of the implementation of Project Safe Neighborhoods in one of the jurisdictions in which this model was first implemented. Details: Unpublished report submitted to the U.S. National Institute of Justice, 2014. 69p. Source: Accessed May 5, 2014 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/244866.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/244866.pdf Shelf Number: 132234 Keywords: CollaborationCommunity Crime PreventionGun-Related ViolenceHomicideHot-SpotsIntelligence GatheringIntelligence-Led PolicingProject Safe NeighborhoodsViolent Crime |
Author: Ajzenman, Nicolas Title: On the Distributive Costs of Drug-Related Homicides Summary: Reliable estimates of the effects of violence on economic outcomes are scarce. We exploit the manyfold increase in homicides in 2008-2011 in Mexico resulting from its war on organized drug traffickers to estimate the effect of drug-related homicides on house prices. We use an unusually rich dataset that provides national coverage on house prices and homicides and exploit within-municipality variations. We find that the impact of violence on housing prices is borne entirely by the poor sectors of the population. An increase in homicides equivalent to one standard deviation leads to a 3% decrease in the price of low-income housing. In spite of this large burden on the poor, the willingness to pay in order to reverse the increase in drug-related crime is not high. We estimate it to be approximately 0.1% of Mexico's GDP. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2014. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: NBER Working Paper Series: Working Paper 20067: Accessed May 5, 2014 at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w20067.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w20067.pdf Shelf Number: 132248 Keywords: Drug TraffickingDrug-Related ViolenceDrugs and CrimeEconomics of CrimeHomicideHousing |
Author: Beirich, Heidi Title: White Homicide Worldwide Summary: A typical murderer drawn to the racist forum Stormfront.org is a frustrated, unemployed, white adult male living with his mother or an estranged spouse or girlfriend. She is the sole provider in the household. Forensic psychologists call him a "wound collector." Instead of building his resume, seeking employment or further education, he projects his grievances on society and searches the Internet for an excuse or an explanation unrelated to his behavior or the choices he has made in life. His escalation follows a predictable trajectory. From right-wing antigovernment websites and conspiracy hatcheries, he migrates to militant hate sites that blame society's ills on ethnicity and shifting demographics. He soon learns his race is endangered - a target of "white genocide." After reading and lurking for a while, he needs to talk to someone about it, signing up as a registered user on a racist forum where he commiserates in an echo chamber of angry fellow failures where Jews, gays, minorities and multiculturalism are blamed for everything. Assured of the supremacy of his race and frustrated by the inferiority of his achievements, he binges online for hours every day, self-medicating, slowly sipping a cocktail of rage. He gradually gains acceptance in this online birthing den of self-described "lone wolves," but he gets no relief, no practical remedies, no suggestions to improve his circumstances. He just gets angrier. And then he gets a gun. The hatemaker: Don Black, the former Alabama Klan leader who founded and still runs Stormfront, provides an electronic home and breeding ground for racists who have murdered almost 100 people in the last five years. To this day, he remains fiercely unapologetic, even as he rakes in donations from his forum members. It is a myth that racist killers hide in the shadows. Investigators find that most offenders openly advocated their ideology online, often obsessively posting on racist forums and blogs for hours every day. Over the past two decades, the largest hate site in the world, Stormfront.org, has been a magnet and breeding ground for the deadly and the deranged. There is safety in the anonymity of the Web, and comfort in the endorsement others offer for extreme racist ideas, argues former FBI agent Joe Navarro, who coined the term "wound collector." "Isolation permits the free expression of ideas, especially those which are extreme and which foster passionate hatred," Navarro, who helped found the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Division, wrote in 2011 in Psychology Today. "In this cocoon of isolation the terrorist can indulge his ideology" without the restrictions of the routines of daily life. Then there is a trajectory from idea to action. Though on any given day, fewer than 1,800 registered members log on to Stormfront, and less than half of the site's visitors even reside in the United States, a two-year study by the Intelligence Report shows that registered Stormfront users have been disproportionately responsible for some of the most lethal hate crimes and mass killings since the site was put up in 1995. In the past five years alone, Stormfront members have murdered close to 100 people. The Report's research shows that Stormfront's bias-related murder rate began to accelerate rapidly in early 2009, after Barack Obama became the nation's first black president. For domestic Islamic terrorists, the breeding ground for violence is often the Al Qaeda magazine Inspire and its affiliated websites. For the racist, it is Stormfront. Details: Atlanta, GA: Southern Poverty Law Center, 2014. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 12, 2014 at: http://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/intelligence_report_154_homicide_world_wide.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/intelligence_report_154_homicide_world_wide.pdf Shelf Number: 132327 Keywords: ExtremistsHate CrimesHomicideRacismViolent Crime |
Author: American Bar Association. National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws Title: A Review of the Preliminary Report & Recommendations Summary: In 2013, the National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws was convened by the American Bar Association entities identified below, to review and analyze the recently enacted Stand Your Ground laws in multiple states and their impact on public safety and the criminal justice system. The ABA sponsors of the Task Force include the Coalition on Racial & Ethnic Justice, the Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity, the Commission of Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline, the Section on Individual Rights & Responsibilities, the Criminal Justice Section, the Young Lawyer's Division, the Standing Committee on Gun Violence, and the Commission on Youth at Risk. The Task Force members are a diverse array of leaders from law enforcement, government, public and private criminal attorneys, public and private health, academic experts, and other legal and social science experts. Further, the Task Force's membership includes appointees from the above co-sponsoring ABA entities and strategic partners, including the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, the Urban Institute, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children. Additionally, the Task Force has an Advisory Committee of leading academic and other legal and social science experts as well as victims' rights advocates. The Task Force has conducted a comprehensive legal and multidisciplinary analysis of the impact of the Stand Your Ground laws, which have substantially expanded the bounds of self-defense law in over half of the jurisdictions in the United States. The study detailed herein is national in its scope and assess the utility of previous, current, and future laws in the area of self-defense across the United States. In examining and reporting on the potential effects Stand Your Ground laws may have on public safety, individual liberties, and the criminal justice system, the Task Force has: 1. Examined the provisions of Stand Your Ground statutes and analyzed the potential for their misapplication and their risk of injustice from multiple perspectives, e.g. the individual's right to exercise self-defense, the victim's rights, and of the rights of the criminally accused. 2. Analyzed the degree to which racial or ethnic bias impacts Stand Your Ground laws. Particular attention was paid to the role implicit bias. First, the analysis focuses on how implicit bias may impact the perception of a deadly threat as well as the ultimate use of deadly force. Second, it looks at how implicit bias impacts the investigation, prosecution, immunity, and final determination of which homicides are justified. 3. Examined the effect that the surge of new Stand Your Ground laws had on crime control objectives and public safety. 4. Reviewed law enforcement policy, administrative guidelines, statutes, and judicial rulings regarding the investigation and prosecution of Stand Your Ground cases. 5. Conducted a series of regional public hearings to learn about community awareness, perceptions of equality in enforcement and application, opinions concerning the utility of the laws, and reactions to individualized experiences involving interactions with Stand Your Ground laws. 6. Prepared a final report and recommendations. Details: American Bar Association, 2014. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 9, 2014 at: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/racial_ethnic_justice/aba_natl_task_force_on_syg_laws_preliminary_report_program_book.authcheckdam.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/racial_ethnic_justice/aba_natl_task_force_on_syg_laws_preliminary_report_program_book.authcheckdam.pdf Shelf Number: 133195 Keywords: Crime ControlGun Control PolicyGun ViolenceGuns (U.S.)HomicidePublic SafetySelf-DefenseStand Your Ground Laws |
Author: Higgs, Tamsin Title: Towards Identification of the Sexual Homicide Perpetrator Summary: A 'continuum' conceptualisation of sexual offending has been proposed (e.g Oliver et al., 2005; Proulx, Cusson, & Beauregard, 2005; Salfati & Taylor, 2006) where circumstantial violence determines whether the outcome of a sexual assault is fatal. However, so far research has failed to distinguish those sexual homicide offenders for whom homicide was a sexually motivated act, from those who killed their victim(s) incidentally, or in order to evade capture. This study identified a group of sexual homicide offenders who committed acts of post-mortem interference, which is suggestive of a sexual motivation for the killing. This group was compared to a group of offenders convicted of sexual assault, to determine whether there were any differences between them, in crime scene and psychological characteristics. The adult male sample consisted of 48 non-serial post-mortem interference sexual homicide offenders whose victims were females aged 14 years or over, and 48 convicted sexual offenders whose offences did not result in homicide, all of whom had participated in the UK Prison Service Sexual Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP). Both samples were identified from information relating to convictions between 1954 and 2012. Details: London: National Offender Management Service and Ministry of Justice, 2015. 5p. Source: Internet Resource: Analytical Summary: Accessed February 26, 2015 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/406956/towards-identification-of-sexual-homicide-perpetrator.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/406956/towards-identification-of-sexual-homicide-perpetrator.pdf Shelf Number: 134674 Keywords: HomicideSex Offenders (U.K.)Sexual AssaultSexual Violence |
Author: Stefanska, Ewa Title: Offence Pathways of Sexual Homicide Perpetrators Summary: Offending pathways of sexual homicide perpetrators were explored with a focus on whether the pathways for those with a previous conviction for rape or attempted rape differed from those who had no such convictions. The criteria for sexual homicide was taken from the UK National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Offender Assessment System (OASys) research database, and included murders where a sexual element and/or a sexual motivation was evidenced, suspected or admitted. A total of 129 non-serial male perpetrators of sexual homicide of females where the victim was aged 14 years or over, who had been convicted and served a custodial sentence within UK Prison Service, were included. The analyses used in the study evaluated cognitive problems, sexual and behavioural interests, modus operandi and crime scene characteristics. The data was obtained from the Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP) databases and the electronic Lifer files held within the Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD). Details: London: National Offender Management Service and Ministry of Justice, 2015. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Analytical Summary: Accessed February 26, 2015 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/406961/offence-pathways-of-sexual-homicide-perpetrators.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/406961/offence-pathways-of-sexual-homicide-perpetrators.pdf Shelf Number: 134675 Keywords: HomicideSex Offenders (U.K.) Sexual Violence |
Author: Cussen, Tracy Title: Indigenous and non-Indigenous homicide in Australia Summary: Indigenous people (Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians) are disproportionately victims and offenders in homicide incidents both in relation to their relative proportion of the Australian population and in comparison with their non-Indigenous counterparts. In 201112, Indigenous people comprised three percent of the Australian population (ABS 2009; ABS 2012) yet constituted 13 percent of homicide victims (n=35) and 11 percent of homicide offenders (n=32; Bryant & Cussen 2015). The rate of both victimisation and offending by Indigenous people was approximately five times higher than that of non-Indigenous people (Bryant & Cussen 2015). Available research suggests that victims and offenders may be exposed to, or experience, a number of vulnerabilities that increase the likelihood they will be involved in a violent offence and further, that these factors may be more pronounced for Indigenous people. Research undertaken by Wundersitz (2010), Bryant (2009) and Bryant and Willis (2008) has linked substance abuse, personal history (such as sexual abuse as a child), housing mobility, and social stressors (such as witnessing violence, gambling addiction, mental illness or serious accident) to an increase in offending and victimisation risk. A previous comparative analysis of Indigenous and non-Indigenous homicides in Australia (Mouzos 2001) also identified that the majority of Indigenous homicides occurred between family members in the context of domestic conflict. This paper describes selected characteristics of Indigenous and non-Indigenous homicides as recorded within the AICs National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) from 1 July 1989 to 30 June 2012. Over this time period, the NHMP has recorded: 6,744 homicide incidents (1,096 involving at least one Indigenous person); 7,217 victims (of whom 951 or 13% were Indigenous people); and 7,599 identified offenders (of whom 1,234 or 16% were Indigenous). Both the total number of victims and offenders is greater than the total number of homicide incidents over the 23 year period because some incidents involve multiple offenders and/or the death of multiple victims. Homicides contained within the NHMP are reported to the AIC by police services and data are augmented with information from the National Coronial Information System, media reports and/or publicly available sentencing remarks from relevant court proceedings. Victim and offender Indigenous status is principally identified by the police and is likely derived from subjective assessments based on appearance and/or offender self-reported status. It is therefore likely that the number of victims and offenders identified as Indigenous within the NHMP is under-estimated and this limitation should be considered with reference to the data presented in this report. It should also be noted that there were 1,126 homicides (17%) where the Indigenous status of victims and/or offenders was not recorded. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2015. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Research in Practice, no. 37: Accessed May 13, 2015 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/rip/rip37/rip37.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/rip/rip37/rip37.pdf Shelf Number: 135630 Keywords: Crime StatisticsHomicideIndigenous PeoplesViolent Crime |
Author: Engel, Robin S. Title: Evaluation of the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) Summary: From 1991 to 2000, Cincinnati averaged 41.3 homicides per year, a relatively low per capita rate compared to other large Ohio and regional cities. From 2001 to 2006, however, the city averaged 73.3 homicides per year, representing a 300% increase in homicides and culminating in a modern-day high of 89 homicides in 2006 (Engel et al., 2008). Through systematic research with front-line law enforcement officers, a vivid picture of a hyperactive offender population in Cincinnati was revealed: Approximately 0.3% of the city's population, with prior records averaging 35 charges apiece, were members of violent groups in 2007. Further analyses revealed that these violent groups were associated with three-quarters of the city's homicides during a one year period (Engel et al., 2009). Historically, there have been very few highly organized, intergenerational gangs with national affiliations in Cincinnati. Rather, the violent crime problem in Cincinnati is associated with loosely-knit social networks of individuals that hang together on the street and promote violence as a means of handling conflict (Engel et al., 2008; Engel and Dunham, 2009). These are the type of episodic groups and gangs that are typical in most mid-sized urban centers, and are quickly spreading to suburban and rural areas (Howell, 2007). This report provides a brief overview of the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV), and an empirical evaluation of its impact on group/gang-related violence in Cincinnati. This evaluation provides an overall assessment, and relies on quantitative data provided by the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD), Community Police Partnering Center (CPPC), Cincinnati Human Relations Commission (CHRC), Talbert House, and Cincinnati Works. The research presented in this report provides an initial evaluation of the initiative as a whole. Previous reports (Engel et al. 2008, 2009) more thoroughly document the detailed processes of the initiative, while future reports will examine the individual contributions of various strategies in more depth. The initial findings documented within this report demonstrate a statistically significant 35% reduction in group/gang-related homicides, and a 21.3% decline in fatal and non-fatal shootings in Cincinnati that corresponds directly with the implementation of CIRV. Details: Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati, Policing Institute, 2010. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 3, 2015 at: http://nnscommunities.org/old-site-files/CIRV__Evaluation_Report_2010_FINAL.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://nnscommunities.org/old-site-files/CIRV__Evaluation_Report_2010_FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 135854 Keywords: Focused Deterrence (Cincinnati)GangsGun ViolenceHomicideViolence Prevention |
Author: Carter, Adam Title: Factors Indicative of Fantasy Disclosure by Sexual Homicide Perpetrators: An Exploratory Study Summary: Sexual fantasy has been identified as an important characteristic in theories of sexual homicide, while forensic practitioners may seek to determine whether sexual fantasy played a role in a sexual killing. Thus, fantasy can be integral to case formulation and identifying treatment targets as part of rehabilitative efforts to reduce the risk of recidivism. However, perpetrators of sexual homicides can be reluctant to talk about their fantasies due to concerns that this will raise their level of risk and prevent progression. The current research reports on two studies using the same sample. The aim of the first study was to consider the presence or absence of characteristics of perpetrators of non-serial sexual killing and whether or not there was evidence that the perpetrator had disclosed deviant fantasy. The second study aimed to determine whether or not the disclosure of fantasy could be predicted using factors identified in the first study. A sample of 100 life sentenced men convicted of homicide who had committed a non-serial sexual killing (those offenders who had killed one or two people) was used to facilitate knowledge of the factors that could indicate whether sexual fantasy needs to be considered to understand a sexual homicide. Key findings-- - A number of significant differences were found between perpetrators that had or had not disclosed fantasies according to childhood behaviour (e.g. bed wetting), offence characteristics (e.g. attacked with sexual intention), adult characteristics (e.g. in a relationship/married at time to offence) and crime scene behaviour (e.g. taking weapon to crime scene). - Several perpetrator variables - such as not the youngest of siblings, problems relating to preferred gender after age 12 years, taking a weapon to the crime scene - were significant predictors of whether the perpetrator disclosed offence related fantasy. - The findings indicate that aspects of upbringing and childhood experience could promote or foster reversions to deviant fantasy, as well as factors that could be a symptom of reliance on such fantasies. - Forensic practitioners carrying out assessments could use findings from this study to act as a signal to suggest that a perpetrator who is not disclosing offence related fantasy is possibly not being completely open about the issue. - Whilst further research is required, the findings from this study make steps towards identifying indicators for determining that deviant fantasy could be relevant to the individual concerned, and to identify sexual killers who disclose fantasy as a separate group of sexual killers from perpetrators who kill for other reasons. Details: London: National Offender Management Service, 2015. 6p. Source: Internet Resource: Analytical Summary: Accessed July 30, 2015 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449014/study-fantasy-disclosure-sexual-homicide.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449014/study-fantasy-disclosure-sexual-homicide.pdf Shelf Number: 136267 Keywords: HomicideSex OffendersSexual HomicideSexual Violence |
Author: Violence Policy Center Title: When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2013 Homicide Data Summary: Intimate partner violence against women is all too common and takes many forms. The most serious is homicide by an intimate partner. Guns can easily turn domestic violence into domestic homicide. One federal study on homicide among intimate partners found that female intimate partners are more likely to be murdered with a firearm than all other means combined, concluding that "the figures demonstrate the importance of reducing access to firearms in households affected by IPV [intimate partner violence]." Guns are also often used in non-fatal domestic violence. A study by Harvard School of Public Health researchers analyzed gun use at home and concluded that "hostile gun displays against family members may be more common than gun use in self-defense, and that hostile gun displays are often acts of domestic violence directed against women." The U.S. Department of Justice has found that women are far more likely to be the victims of violent crimes committed by intimate partners than men, especially when a weapon is involved. Moreover, women are much more likely to be victimized at home than in any other place. A woman must consider the risks of having a gun in her home, whether she is in a domestic violence situation or not. While two thirds of women who own guns acquired them "primarily for protection against crime," the results of a California analysis show that "purchasing a handgun provides no protection against homicide among women and is associated with an increase in their risk for intimate partner homicide." A 2003 study about the risks of firearms in the home found that females living with a gun in the home were nearly three times more likely to be murdered than females with no gun in the home. Finally, another study reports, women who were murdered were more likely, not less likely, to have purchased a handgun in the three years prior to their deaths, again invalidating the idea that a handgun has a protective effect against homicide. While this study does not focus solely on domestic violence homicide or guns, it provides a stark reminder that domestic violence and guns make a deadly combination. Firearms are rarely used to kill criminals or stop crimes. Instead, they are all too often used to inflict harm on the very people they were intended to protect According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports, in 2013 there were only 270 justifiable homicides committed by private citizens. Of these, only 23 involved women killing men. Of those, only 13 involved firearms, with 11 of the 13 involving handguns. While firearms are at times used by private citizens to kill criminals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the most common scenarios of lethal gun use in America in 2013, the most recent final data available, are suicide (21,175), homicide (11,208), or fatal unintentional injury (505). When Men Murder Women is an annual report prepared by the Violence Policy Center detailing the reality of homicides committed against females by single male offenders. The study analyzes the most recent Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The information used for this report is for the year 2013. Once again, this is the most recent data available. This is the first analysis of the 2013 data on female homicide victims to offer breakdowns of cases in the 10 states with the highest female victim/male offender homicide rates, and the first to rank the states by these rates. This study examines only those instances involving one female homicide victim and one male offender. This is the exact scenario-the lone male attacker and the vulnerable woman-that is often used to promote gun ownership among women. This is the 18th edition of When Men Murder Women. From 1996 to 2013, the rate of women murdered by men in single victim/single offender incidents dropped from 1.57 per 100,000 women in 1996 to 1.09 per 100,000 women in 2013, a decrease of 31 percent. Details: Washington, DC: Violence Policy Institute, 2015. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 24, 2015 at: http://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2015.pdf Shelf Number: 137331 Keywords: Crime Statistics Family Violence Gun-Related Violence Homicide Intimate Partner Violence Murders Violence Against Women |
Author: Youth Justice Board for England and Wales Title: The Knife Crime Prevention Programme: Process Evaluation Summary: The Knife Crime Prevention Programme (KCPP) is an intervention which aims to reduce the prevalence of knife carrying and use by young people. Young people are referred to the programme if they are aged between 10 and 17 and have been convicted of an offence where a knife or the threat of a knife is a feature. The programme is based on a national delivery framework, with flexibility for local adaptation. It was rolled out as part of the Home Office "Tackling Knives Action Programme"(TKAP). Research objectives This process evaluation was commissioned to: - provide a picture of the implementation and delivery of KCPP - explore participants' knowledge, perceptions and attitudes to knife crime before and after the programme - explore staff attitudes to the programme. Methodology The methodology adopted was as follows: - an electronic survey of 67 youth offending teams (YOTs) delivering KCPP3 - a paper-based survey of 96 young people from 13 YOTs at entry to and exit from the programme - site visits to eight YOTs, where interviews were undertaken with 33 staff/partners and 12 young people, and one focus group was undertaken with seven young people. Key findings YOT staff who were surveyed reported that the majority of young people who started KCPP in their local area completed the programme. Non-completion was reportedly most often due to the young person being taken into custody (named by 24 of 67 YOTs), being disruptive in sessions, or failing to attend. KCPP respondents spoke highly of the use of personal accounts of the consequences of knife crime from victims, families, ex-offenders or professionals. However, YOTs found this challenging and resource-intensive to arrange and, in most YOTs, case studies and recorded media were used in place of personal delivery. Where achieved, some young people felt they had increased empathy for victims' families and health professionals as a result of the programme. By the end of the programme, the majority of those young people completing the survey upon entry and exit to the programme demonstrated a correct understanding of the law. YOT staff surveyed felt that the greatest learning points for young people from the programme were 'recognising the dangers of carrying a knife' and a perceived increase in 'understanding of the consequences of knife crime'. Group work provided challenges to staff in terms of risk management and appropriate grouping of young people. The importance of appropriately skilled facilitators was emphasised by YOT staff. Staff did feel, however, that the group setting provided an opportunity for positive social interaction between young people. The majority of YOT staff surveyed (40 out of 67) said that they believed KCPP was effective. The qualitative interviews indicated that YOT staff thought that the programme was more likely to be effective for young people with a low risk of reoffending. The need to carry a knife 'for protection' was considered by young people and staff to be a key reason why some young people would continue to carry a knife. The KCPP framework did not stipulate any formal follow-on activity for those who completed the programme. Only a few of the YOTs surveyed (six) provided organised follow-on activities, depending on local availability and funding, and even when follow-on activities did take place, they were not explicitly linked to knife crime. Details: London: Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, 2013. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 17, 2016 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/395990/knife-crime-prevention-programme.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/395990/knife-crime-prevention-programme.pdf Shelf Number: 138308 Keywords: Crime PreventionCrime ReductionHomicideKnife Crime (U.K.)KnivesViolent CrimeWeapons |
Author: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Title: Situation of Human Rights in Honduras Summary: The report "Situation of Human Rights in Honduras", addresses the situation of human rights violations which result of high rates of violence, citizen insecurity and impunity. The report also provides recommendations in order to assist the State in strengthening its efforts to protect and guarantee human rights. The report indicates that the homicide rate in Honduras remains one of the highest in the region and the world, although the State reported numbers that indicate a decline in 2014. These levels of violence are a result of several factors, including the increased presence of organized crime and drug traffickers, an inadequate judicial response that fuels impunity, corruption, and high levels of poverty and inequality. "Violence and insecurity are serious problems that Honduran society faces with a major impact on the enjoyment and effective exercise of human rights in the country," said Commissioner Francisco Eguiguren, IACHR Rapporteur for Honduras. The report indicates that the high levels of violence faced by Honduran society have a particular impact on human rights defenders, indigenous peoples, women, children, adolescents and youth, LGBT persons, migrants, campesinos from the Bajo Aguan, journalists and media workers, and justice operators. The report also analyzes those still considered to be among the most serious problems that the Honduran prison system is facing. Official figures released in 2013 indicate that 80% of murders committed in Honduras go unpunished due to a lack of capacity of investigative bodies. During the visit, civil society organizations claimed that the prevailing levels of impunity in Honduras are even higher. Details: Washington, DC: IACHR, 2015. 230p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 26, 2016 at: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/Honduras-en-2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Honduras URL: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/Honduras-en-2015.pdf Shelf Number: 138417 Keywords: Crime RatesCriminal Justice SystemsHomicideHuman Rights AbusesMurdersViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities (U.S.) Title: Within Our Reach: A National Strategy to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities Summary: Within Our Reach: A National Strategy to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities is the final report of the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities. This report discusses the Commission's findings and presents both a comprehensive national strategy for fundamental reform and recommendations specific to populations in need of special attention, including children currently known to CPS agencies and at high risk for fatality, American Indian/Alaska Native children, and African American children. The report includes recommendations for actions by the executive branch, Congress, and states and counties that the Commission believes will be most effective in ending these tragic deaths, today and into the future. Details: Washington, DC: The Commission, 2016. 168p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 31, 2016 at: https://eliminatechildabusefatalities.sites.usa.gov/files/2016/03/CECANF-final-report.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://eliminatechildabusefatalities.sites.usa.gov/files/2016/03/CECANF-final-report.pdf Shelf Number: 138507 Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect Child Fatalities Child Protection Homicide |
Author: U.S. Department of State. Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations Title: Belize Engagement: Evaluation Report Summary: CSO's evaluation of its engagement in Belize was the first formal evaluation conducted by CSO, and was conducted as an independent internal evaluation by CSO's Office of Learning and Training. The Belize engagement was a small innovative program to reduce gang activity and violence in Southside Belize City by developing mediation and community dialogue capacity. The evaluation found that mediation was very effective and showed promise for expansion, while community dialogue was resonating but making slower progress and institutional issues hampered sustainability. Recommendations of the evaluation inspired a second wave of programming to plug gaps in community dialogue training, train mediators more grounded in gang neighborhoods, and improve program management capacity of the local partner, as well as a grant from the U.S. Embassy to the local partner allowing it to hire dedicated staff. Community dialogues consequently grew eight-fold and mediators and trainers doubled. The Prime Minister praised the program for establishing "a sustainable, Belizean community-based approach to reduce violence." While other programs and factors likely contributed, the homicide rate in Belize City decreased by roughly 50% in 2013, though increasing in several other locations. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, 2012. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 3, 2016 at: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/223248.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Belize URL: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/223248.pdf Shelf Number: 138906 Keywords: Community MediationGang ViolenceGang-Related ViolenceGangsHomicideViolence |
Author: Everytown for Gun Safety Title: Beyond Gridlock: How White House Action on Gun Violence Can Save Lives Summary: In the wake of the horrific shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon - the 18th mass shooting of 20151 - President Obama spoke to the nation, lamenting that gun violence has grown so routine in America and deploring Congressional inaction. But the President also issued a powerful call to action, and recommitted his administration to exploring its authority to take executive action and enforce the laws already in place. He asked whether there were steps his administration could take to prevent these "tragic deaths from taking place." This report answers the President's call, and offers five life-saving measures that the Administration could advance - today - to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. These five critical - and simple - steps would: keep dangerous people with guns out of our schools; crack down on gun trafficking and curb the sale of guns without background checks; ensure that law enforcement identifies and prosecutes the most dangerous criminals who try to illegally obtain guns; help states to enforce their own background check laws; and ensure that all convicted domestic abusers are prohibited from possessing guns. A comprehensive list of these and other recommended executive actions is set forth in the appendix to this report. Details: Everytown for Gun Safety, 2015. 18p. Source: Internet Resource Accessed May 13, 2016 at: https://everytownresearch.org/documents/2015/10/beyond-gridlock-white-house-action-gun-violence-can-save-lives.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://everytownresearch.org/documents/2015/10/beyond-gridlock-white-house-action-gun-violence-can-save-lives.pdf Shelf Number: 139016 Keywords: Gun ControlGun Control PolicyGun ViolenceGun-Related ViolenceHomicideViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: New Zealand. Law Commission. Title: Strangulation: The Case for a New Offence Summary: The Commission has been asked to report on a possible new crime of strangulation. This Report discharges that obligation. The Commission has considered: the rationale for establishing such a crime; if a crime of non-fatal strangulation is to be created, what the appropriate elements of the offence should be; what the maximum penalty should be having regard to the structure and terms of other offences in the Crimes Act 1961; and whether there are other legislative or operational options that would better address the concerns the proposed crime is intended to address. This reference forms part of a range of initiatives the Minister of Justice is considering in respect of family violence. The current government has made the scourge of family violence in New Zealand one of its highest priorities. The Police deal with over 100,000 family call-outs per year. Studies have shown that strangulation, often to the point of unconsciousness, is a common form of family violence. It is a dreadful tool for coercion and control within a domestic relationship. It is not well accommodated within the existing offences in the Crimes Act. Summary of recommendations STRANGULATION OFFENCE Part 8 of the Crimes Act 1961 should be amended to make a person who strangles or suffocates another person liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years. In that offence, "strangles or suffocates" should mean impedes normal breathing or circulation of the blood by intentionally applying force on the neck or by other means. NOTING FAMILY VIOLENCE ON THE CRIMINAL RECORD The Crimes Act should be amended to require that, if a person pleads guilty to the strangulation offence or is found guilty of the strangulation offence, and the court is satisfied that the offence was a family violence offence, the court must direct that the offence be recorded on the person's criminal record as a family violence offence. AGGRAVATING FACTOR FOR SENTENCING Section 9 of the Sentencing Act 2002 should be amended to include strangulation as an aggravating factor that must be taken into account in sentencing. OPERATIONAL CHANGES The Police family violence incident report (POL 1310) should be amended to include questions designed to screen for strangulation. The Police National Intelligence Application (NIA) should be amended to record specifically whether or not a family violence incident included an allegation of strangulation. Police who attend family violence call-outs should receive education about the prevalence, signs, symptoms and lethality of strangulation. Similar education should also be offered to judges who undertake criminal law or family law work. Details: Wellington: New Zealand Law Commission, 2016. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 10, 2016 at: http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/sites/default/files/projectAvailableFormats/NZLC-R138.pdf Year: 2016 Country: New Zealand URL: http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/sites/default/files/projectAvailableFormats/NZLC-R138.pdf Shelf Number: 139364 Keywords: Family ViolenceHomicideIntimate Partner ViolenceMurderStrangulation |
Author: Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women Title: Femicide in Armenia: A Silent Epidemic Summary: Published by the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women, this report records the death of women killed by intimate partners and family members and sheds light on the manifestations of gender-related killings and acts of violence that are uniquely experienced by women in Armenia. We choose to use the term femicide in this report as opposed to the more gender-neutral term homicide, which overlooks the unique systems of inequality and oppression that women face. Domestic homicides in Armenia are largely carried out by men, and in the rare instances that they are carried out by women against male intimate partners, it is often in self defense. Thus, the gendered context and impact of domestic abuse warrants its own unique category. Details: s.l.: Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women, 2016. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 1, 2016 at: http://coalitionagainstviolence.org/en/femicide-en/ Year: 2016 Country: Armenia URL: http://coalitionagainstviolence.org/en/femicide-en/ Shelf Number: 140109 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceFemicideGender-Related ViolenceHomicideIntimate-Partner ViolenceViolence Against Women |
Author: Thornton, Sara Title: Predicting Serious Domestic Assaults and Murder in the Thames Valley Summary: Thames Valley Police uses a risk assessment model to identify those cases of domestic violence where the risk of future harm is high. This study looked at all the cases on serious domestic assault and murder between 2007 and 2009 to establish how accurate the risk assessments had been in predicting the serious harm. In 55% of cases there was no prior recorded contact with the police. In only five out of 118 cases was the case assessed as high risk. Effectively there was an 80% false negative rate. In the same period 1740 other victims were assessed as high risk arguably resulting in a 99% false positive rate. A case control study was carried out to try to identify any risk factors that marked out those offenders who committed the most serious domestic assaults from other violent offenders. The case control study found that those who committed serious domestic assault and murder were less criminogenic than the risk pool of all violent offenders - contrary to the central hypothesis of escalating violence. The study also found that male offenders who committed serious domestic assaults were more than three times likely to be suicidal than other violent offenders. Details: Cambridge, UK: Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, 2011. 98p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed October 17, 2016 at: http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/alumni/theses/Thornton,%20S.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/alumni/theses/Thornton,%20S.pdf Shelf Number: 145094 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceHomicideIntimate Partner ViolencePredictionRisk AssessmentViolence Against Women |
Author: World Health Organization Title: Preventing violence and reducing its impact: how development agencies can help Summary: This document makes the case for increased attention by international development agencies to violence prevention, and aims to stimulate dialogue on the role of international development agencies in the prevention of violence globally. Approaches to prevent violence concentrate on identifying ways to keep people from committing acts of violence. Interventions may eliminate or reduce the underlying risk factors and reinforce protective factors. Prevention strategies are conceived and implemented with reference to the interaction of risk factors among people at different stages of the life cycle and in relation to causes at the levels of the individual, family, community, and society. Based on a review by WHO, including content analysis of 22 development agency web sites, this document provides a preliminary stocktaking of the priority accorded to violence prevention as defined here within international development programming. It focuses on interpersonal and self-directed violence, since many more people lose their lives, are injured, and suffer other negative health consequences through interpersonal and self-directed violence than through collective violence. Chapter I, How violence harms development, describes violence as a global challenge and a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Violence disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries, where its economic and social impacts are severe. Every day, more than 4000 people, over 90% of them in low- and middle-income countries, die because of violence. Of those killed, approximately 2300 die by their own hand and over 1500 because of injuries inflicted by another person. Much violence is not reported at all, so millions suffer untold and unaddressed harm. The chapter briefly reviews some of the health, social, and economic consequences of violence for individuals, communities, and countries, including: Health consequences for individuals and for health systems Economic consequences including lost opportunities, reduced productivity, and inequitable growth patterns Reduced progress towards gender equality Security and safety concerns as an obstacle to development Obstacles to achieving Millennium Development Goals. Chapter II, "Preventing violence: a great advance", begins with a discussion of the impact of the 2002 World report on violence and health, the first comprehensive global review. One of the principal contributions of the World report was to make a strong case for a public health approach, a systematic process that concentrates on identifying ways to keep people from committing acts of violence, eliminating or reducing underlying risk factors, and reinforcing protective factors. It also emphasizes working with and learning from other sectors and disciplines to build sustained, intersectoral responses. Potential partner sectors with valuable contributions to make include education, employment, housing, justice, safety and security, social action, sports and recreation, trade and industry, and welfare. In many countries, these sectors have both public and private (i.e. for-profit) components, as well as civil society and non-governmental organizations. Successful examples of intersectoral approaches in Colombia and South Africa are discussed. Chapter III, "Violence and the current development agenda: what is missing?", points out that, despite increased understanding of violence as a barrier to development and growing knowledge about how to tackle it, violence prevention suffers from a combination of institutional fragmentation, weak national planning, and low political status. It also has a low priority (outside of peacekeeping and conflict resolution) within the international development agenda, including the national agencies responsible for official development assistance (ODA). Content analysis of ODA agency web sites and documents from 22 countries shows that ODA agencies tend to give the highest prominence to collective violence, followed by violence against women (particularly in the context of war), violence against children and, much less prominently, youth violence. Perhaps the most arresting feature of this analysis is what the agencies do not address, compared to the actual impact of various forms of violence. Whereas suicide accounts for 54% of all deaths directly due to violence, homicide for 35%, and collective violence 11%, ODA agency web sites and documents accord the greatest prominence to collective violence, limited prominence to homicide, and almost none to suicide. Least prominent is abuse of elders a serious gap given that, globally, an estimated one in 20 elderly people experience abuse. Another clear gap is visible along gender lines: although males are victims of nearly 80% of all homicides, 60% of suicides, and 80% of violence-related injuries, limited attention is paid to preventing male suicide or male-to-male interpersonal violence. Intersectoral approaches receive little attention, and programming tends to concentrate on one sector at a time. Finally, there is little reference to evidence-based approaches, support for data collection or research into violence. Chapter IV, "Strengthened agenda: strategies that work", suggests that while much is right with the current agenda of ODA agencies, significant potential benefits are being missed and important gaps need to be filled. The benefits can be realized and the gaps filled by re-focusing or expanding current priorities, by adding new funding to neglected violence prevention areas, and by efforts to expand the evidence base. Based on the analysis in the preceding chapter, a strengthened agenda would: Expand programming to include types of violence and groups at high risk of victimization or perpetration that are currently inadequately addressed in programming. Among other issues, a strengthened agenda would increase attention to interpersonal violence among youth and young adult males, self-directed violence, and violence against elderly people. Utilize sectoral entry points that are not currently supported. For example, it seems likely that municipal governments, antenatal health clinics, schools, faith-based organizations, trade unions, business associations, and many other entry points could be brought into prevention efforts, depending on the forms of violence to be tackled and the factors contributing to them. Development agencies have experience of working with or through such organizations or services, and should be able to assess which of them in any given location would have comparative advantages to offer. Increase support for data collection and for research on violence prevention, in particular evaluation research to provide for scaling-up of proven practices. More evidence makes for better programming and more powerful advocacy. The strengthened agenda would encourage collaboration in implementing and evaluating pilot interventions in developing countries ideally as part of a coordinated, well-funded initiative as a way of building support for evidence-based approaches at national level. Support efforts that take into account commonalities in risk factors and interventions that simultaneously address different types of violence. Different types of violence share common risk factors, and often occur together; one may cause the other, and they have common consequences. A strengthened agenda would, first, prioritize the following 10 scientifically credible prevention strategies that address common underlying risk factors and so have the potential to simultaneously decrease different forms of violence: 1. Increase safe, stable, and nurturing relationships between children and their parents and caregivers 2. Reduce availability and misuse of alcohol 3. Reduce access to lethal means 4. Improve life skills and enhance opportunities for children and youth 5. Promote gender equality and empower women 6. Change cultural norms that support violence 7. Improve criminal justice systems 8. Improve social welfare systems 9. Reduce social distance between conflicting groups 10. Reduce economic inequality and concentrated poverty. Second, it would prioritize the following four strategies for reducing the consequences of violence: 1. Engage the health sector in violence prevention 2. Provide mental health and social services for victims of violence 3. Improve emergency response to injuries from violence 4. Reduce recidivism among perpetrators. Chapter V, "Strengthened agenda: making it happen", provides guidance on the institutional foundations necessary to implement violence prevention at national level, and suggests ways to integrate evidence-based violence prevention within international development priorities. In conclusion, a strengthened ODA violence prevention agenda would do much to reduce violence in countries around the world. This would in turn lead to further investments in violence prevention as part of ODA, and the gains for health, security, and growth would justify still further investments. Experience, in both industrialized and developing countries, shows that there are real benefits to be gained from crosscutting, inter-sectoral approaches that target different factors and sub-populations in a coordinated way, using evidence-based interventions. Details: Geneva: WHO, Violence Prevention Alliance Secretariat, 2008. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 21, 2016 at: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/43876/1/9789241596589_eng.pdf Year: 2008 Country: International URL: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/43876/1/9789241596589_eng.pdf Shelf Number: 111685 Keywords: Evidence-Based Programs Health Programs HomicideViolence Violence Prevention Violent Crime |
Author: Phillips, Jake Title: Non-natural deaths following prison and police custody: Data and practice issues Summary: The Commission undertook this research as a follow up to our "Preventing deaths in detention of adults with mental health conditions" Inquiry. During this inquiry, we were told of concerns about gaps in knowledge about those who died shortly after leaving police or prison custody. This was outside of the Inquiry's terms of reference but we decided to take a closer look at this following publication of the Inquiry report. We commissioned Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Cambridge to undertake this work. The original inquiry made four principal recommendations. These were: -- There needs to be a more structured approach to learning lessons to implement changes identified as necessary during investigations of previous deaths and near misses, as well as learning from experiences in other institutions. -- There should be a clearer focus on getting the basics right, including implementing recommendations, improving staff training and ensuring more joined up working. -- There needs to be increased transparency to ensure adequate scrutiny, holding to account and the involvement of bereaved families. --All detention settings should use the Commission's Human Rights Framework to reduce non-natural deaths and ensure that their policies and practices meet their legal obligations under the Human Rights Act. The research into deaths following custody identified similar factors, suggesting that issues which could contribute to deaths in custody, are also relevant on release. Details: Manchester, UK: Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2016. 75p. Source: Internet Resource: Research report 106: Accessed January 27, 2017 at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/research-report-106-non-natural-deaths-following-prison-and-police-custody.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/research-report-106-non-natural-deaths-following-prison-and-police-custody.pdf Shelf Number: 144928 Keywords: Deaths in CustodyHomicidePolice CustodySuicide |
Author: Olson, Eric L. Title: Improving Citizen Security in the Americas: Why Taking an Urban Approach is Warranted Summary: The urbanization of the world's population has been underway for many decades. In Latin America, over 75 percent of the population lives in cities, and this number is expected to reach approximately 90 percent by 2050 (Muggah 2014, 351). With urbanization has come a wide variety of challenges, including water and sanitation; urban planning and transportation; housing, education, and healthcare; and environmental concerns. It is not surprising, then, that cities and metropolitan areas also experience special challenges with crime and public security. This is especially the case in Latin America, a region that faces some of the highest rates of urban violence in the world (Muggah 2014, 351). According to one analysis, Latin America contains 43 of the world's 50 most violent cities (CCSPJP 2015). The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) produces one of the most widely cited sources of information on homicides worldwide. While the UNODC offers data about urban homicide rates, most of the public debate centers around national-level figures expressed in terms of deaths per 100,000. In 2016, for example, El Salvador was reported as the country with the highest homicide rate-an alarming 81.2 homicides per 100,000 (Gagne 2017). At the regional level, Latin America also fared poorly: a UNODC report on global homicide stated that the Central and South American sub-regions experienced the second and third highest homicide levels, preceded only by Southern Africa (UNODC 2013). According to a criminality index generated by security consulting firm Verisk Maplecroft, five of the ten countries with the highest risk for criminal violence are in Latin America: Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, and El Salvador. National and regional levels of homicide and crime, however, can actually paint a misleading picture of security at the local level. Many specific areas in the region, especially urban areas, experience rates of violence much higher (or lower) than average. For this reason, stemming urban violence at the local level and addressing the underlying factors driving this phenomenon has been an increasingly important policy concern for Latin American governments, the international donor community, and U.S. policymakers in particular. Security is a main concern for the public as well: in 2014, one out of every three adults in the Americas reported that crime, insecurity, or violence was the main problem facing their country (Zeichmeister 2014). In this paper, we seek to summarize some of the principal characteristics and drivers of urban violence in order to develop more targeted and effective policies to address it. First, we discuss how major structural problems like youth unemployment and inequality are related to common crime, organized crime, and violence. We emphasize the importance of understanding the local nature of urban violence and its tendency to occur and persist in specific geographic locations. Next, we look at some examples from the region that shed light on, and in some cases, confirm these ideas. Finally, we offer a series of policy options for addressing one of the region's most persistent and vexing challenges Details: Washington, DC: Wilson Center, Latin American Program, 2017. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2017 at: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/citizen_security_policy_brief_final.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Latin America URL: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/citizen_security_policy_brief_final.pdf Shelf Number: 144739 Keywords: Citizen SecurityHomicideNeighborhoods and CrimeUrban Areas and CrimeUrban ViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Perry, David Title: On Media Coverage of the Murder of People with Disabilities by Their Caregivers Summary: or this White Paper, we looked at the media coverage of 260 cases of the killing of disabled people by the parents or other caregivers, ultimately narrowing our sample down to 219 cases in which the circumstances were clear. The cases date from January 2011 to December 2015. The cases range from clearly intentional acts of murder to death through neglect; the victims have a wide range of disabilities, and the legal outcomes vary from acquittal or no charge to lengthy prison sentences. Our Goals Identify and assess the patterns in coverage. Analyze how those patterns might contribute to stigmatization of disability and disabled people and even intensify the risks of future crimes. Provide a comparative framework so that journalists covering such a story in their own community might have easily accessible references. Highlight the efforts of the self-advocate community to combat disability stigma, to demand victim-centered stories, and work for change. National data repeatedly indicates that people with disabilities are at higher risk for violent crime than people without disabilities. The deaths of people with disabilities at the hands of caregivers, including parents, is a particularly tragic subset of this broader pattern. Moreover, when journalists cover the deaths of this vulnerable segment of the population, the focus is often directed at the murderer. Journalists, consciously or unconsciously, often write stories that build sympathy for the murderer and the circumstances that led them to their crime, while the person with a disability is erased from the story. We have examined over 200 news reports about cases in North America between 2011-2015 that clearly describe the murder of a victim with a disability by a parent, child, spouse, or unrelated caregiver. Findings At least 219 disabled people were killed by parents and caregivers between 2011 -2015 - an average of approximately a murder a week. This is a very conservative number due to under-reporting and the fact that a victim's disability is not always made public. The real numbers are likely much higher. The killers routinely claim "hardship" as a justification for their acts. The media rarely questions such claims or asks for comment from disability rights organizations, and especially not from people with disabilities themselves. In the drive to explain a killing, the lives of the victims get erased resulting in killer-centered, rather than victim-centered reporting. Spreading the hardship narrative may lead to more violence, rather than changing policy around supports. In many cases, moreover, the narrative is fundamentally not true. Many killers receive little to no prison time. In such cases, perceptions of disability as suffering inform judicial decisions not to punish murder. Best Practices Tell victim-centered stories. Don't just report what the killer says about the victim, which will always be dehumanizing. Do the journalism to find out more about the victims' lives, their desires, their agency. Talk to experts in disability. The disability rights community follows these cases closely and will provide expert commentary. Remember, most caregivers do not kill disabled people, so blaming a killing on disability-related hardship is never the full answer. Challenge the claims of defense attorneys and perpetrators. Investigate whether the claims of defense attorneys and perpetrators are accurate. When prosecutors treat such cases lightly, investigate whether they treat cases involving non-disabled victims the same way. Provide Context. These cases are rare (there are around 450 cases of parents killing children every year in the United States), but not unique. They need to be put in context so the consequences of dehumanizing disabled people can be made visible to the general public. Details: Newton, MA: Ruderman Family Foundation, 2017. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 22, 2017 at: http://www.rudermanfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Murders-by-Caregivers-WP_final_final-2.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: http://www.rudermanfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Murders-by-Caregivers-WP_final_final-2.pdf Shelf Number: 145157 Keywords: Disabled PersonsFemicideFilicideHomicideMedia and CrimeMurder |
Author: Weare, Siobhan Title: The Socio-Legal Response(s) to Women Who Kill: A proposed model for acknowledging their agency Summary: This thesis will explore the socio-legal response(s) to women who kill. Interrogating the constructions of "woman" and "femininity" within criminal legal discourse it will argue that the agency (that is, the ability of an individual to choose to act in a particular way) of women who kill is denied, both passively and actively within criminal legal discourse. It will be argued that denying the agency of women who kill is problematic for numerous reasons, including but not limited to, the construction and reinforcement of gender discourse surrounding femininity and issues of justice both being done and being seen to be done for women who kill and for their victims. In order to address these issues, this thesis will therefore propose an agency-based model for women who kill, which will interrupt both the passive and active agency denials which currently exist for these women. Details: Lancaster University, 2014. 320p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed November 21, 2017 at: http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/74373/1/2015WearePhD.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/74373/1/2015WearePhD.pdf Shelf Number: 148286 Keywords: Female OffendersHomicideMurderViolence Crime |
Author: Fowler, Katherine A. Title: Surveillance for Violent Deaths -- National Violent Death Reporting System, 18 States, 2014 Summary: Problem/Condition: In 2014, approximately 59,000 persons died in the United States as a result of violence-related injuries. This report summarizes data from CDC's National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) regarding violent deaths from 18 U.S. states for 2014. Results are reported by sex, age group, race/ethnicity, marital status, location of injury, method of injury, circumstances of injury, and other selected characteristics. Reporting Period Covered: 2014. Description of System: NVDRS collects data from participating states regarding violent deaths. Data are obtained from death certificates, coroner/medical examiner reports, law enforcement reports, and secondary sources (e.g., child fatality review team data, supplemental homicide reports, hospital data, and crime laboratory data). This report includes data from 18 states that collected statewide data for 2014 (Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin). NVDRS collates documents for each death and links deaths that are related (e.g., multiple homicides, a homicide followed by a suicide, or multiple suicides) into a single incident. Results: For 2014, a total of 22,098 fatal incidents involving 22,618 deaths were captured by NVDRS in the 18 states included in this report. The majority of deaths were suicides (65.6%), followed by homicides (22.5%), deaths of undetermined intent (10.0%), deaths involving legal intervention (1.3%) (i.e., deaths caused by law enforcement and other persons with legal authority to use deadly force, excluding legal executions), and unintentional firearm deaths (<1%). The term "legal intervention" is a classification incorporated into the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) and does not denote the lawfulness or legality of the circumstances surrounding a death caused by law enforcement. Suicides occurred at higher rates among males, non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN), non-Hispanic whites, persons aged 45-54 years, and males aged ≥75 years. Suicides were preceded primarily by a mental health, intimate partner, substance abuse, or physical health problem or a crisis during the previous or upcoming 2 weeks. Homicide rates were higher among males and persons aged <1 year and 15-44 years; rates were highest among non-Hispanic black and AI/AN males. Homicides primarily were precipitated by arguments and interpersonal conflicts, occurrence in conjunction with another crime, or related to intimate partner violence (particularly for females). When the relationship between a homicide victim and a suspected perpetrator was known, it was most often either an acquaintance/ friend or an intimate partner. Legal intervention death rates were highest among males and persons aged 20-44 years; rates were highest among non-Hispanic black males and Hispanic males. Precipitating factors for the majority of legal intervention deaths were alleged criminal activity in progress, the victim reportedly using a weapon in the incident, a mental health or substance abuse problem, an argument or conflict, or a recent crisis. Deaths of undetermined intent occurred more frequently among males, particularly non-Hispanic black and AI/AN males, and persons aged 30-54 years. Substance abuse, mental health problems, physical health problems, and a recent crisis were the most common circumstances preceding deaths of undetermined intent. Unintentional firearm deaths were more frequent among males, non-Hispanic whites, and persons aged 10-24 years; these deaths most often occurred while the shooter was playing with a firearm and were most often precipitated by a person unintentionally pulling the trigger or mistakenly thinking the firearm was unloaded. Details: Atlanta: e Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Surveillance Summaries / Vol. 67 / No. 2: Accessed February 6, 2018 at: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/ss/pdfs/ss6702-H.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/ss/pdfs/ss6702-H.pdf Shelf Number: 149005 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceFamily ViolenceGun-Related ViolenceHomicideMurdersSuicidesViolence-Related InjuriesViolent Crime |
Author: Allen, Grahame Title: Knife crime in England and Wales Summary: Summary Recorded crime -- In the year ending March 2017, there were 34,700 (selected) offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in England and Wales. This is the highest number in the seven-year series (from year ending March 2011) the earliest point for which comparable data are available. This is directly related with improvements in recording practices. Homicide -- In 2016/17 there were 215 homicides currently recorded using a sharp instrument, including knives and broken bottles, accounting for 30% of all homicides - a similar number as recorded in 2015/16 (213). Knife crime by police force area -- London recorded the highest rate of 137 offences involving a knife per 100,000 population in 2016/17, an increase of 23 offences from 2015/16. Surrey had the lowest rate of 4 offences per 100,000 individuals (down 2 from 2015/16). Proven offences and offenders -- In 2017, there were just under 20,982 disposals given for possession of a knife or offensive weapon. Juveniles (aged 10-17) were the offenders in 21% of cases. Hospital admissions -- There were 4,434 finished consultant episodes (FCE) recorded in English hospitals in 2016/17 due to assault by a sharp object. This was an increase of 7.1% compared to 2015/16 and 21% higher than in 2014/15. Details: London: House of Commons Library, 2018. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Briefing Paper No. SN4304: Accessed March 27, 2018 at: http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN04304 Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN04304 Shelf Number: 149583 Keywords: Crime StatisticsHomicideKnife CrimeKnivesViolent Crime |
Author: Carrillo, Roxanna Title: Not A Minute More: Ending Violence Against Women Summary: Violence against women and girls kills and maims vast numbers; it fills their lives with pain and terror, from which some never recover. It exists in every country of the world in some form, and the statistics paint a horrifying picture: 40 per cent of all female homicide victims in the United Kingdom are killed by their intimate partners; every year thousands of women suffer dowry-related deaths or are disfigured by acid thrown in their faces by rejected suitors in Bangladesh, Colombia, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. In 2002, the Council of Europe declared violence against women a major cause of death and disability for women 16 to 44 years of age and called it a public health emergency. And in the United States, the health-related costs of rape, physical assault, stalking and homicide by intimate partners are more than $5.8 billion every single year. Globally, the World Bank estimates that violence against women is as serious a cause of death and incapacity among women of reproductive age as cancer and a greater cause of ill health than traffic accidents and malaria combined. One in three women throughout the world will suffer this violence in her lifetime; she will be beaten, raped, assaulted, trafficked, harassed or forced to submit to harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM). In the majority of cases, the abuser will be a member of the woman's own family or someone known to her. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that violence in general has not abated. Whether it breaks out as full-scale war, ethnic or religious conflict, terrorism or the violence that regular unabated? The answer is deceptively simple, but the solution is deeply complex: gender inequality fuels violence against women and the power imbalances it creates are not easily rectified. As long as women in diverse countries do not have access to property and employment and equal wages, to the seats of power, to education, it is possible for governments to ignore them and their needs. Our work to end violence against women must be a conscious part of our work towards the empowerment of women in general. We cannot change the basic structures of society overnight. But each step in the ongoing effort to eradicate violence puts more pressure on those who condone the violence and allow it to exist. Each step makes it harder to ignore the international agreements to protect and promote women's human rights. This is the moment for a renewed commitment to build on the achievements of the last decades and find the resources for meaningful action. Without this commitment, much of what has been achieved may be lost. That would be a tragedy for all of us, since, as we have learned, women's security is tied to global security. In the words of the UN Commission on Human Security (Human Security Now, 2003): "The security of one person, one community, one nation rests on the decisions of many others, sometimes fortuitously, sometimes precariously." In our interconnected world, we are all affected by the decisions of individuals and nations whether close to home or on the other side of the world. Gender-based violence is part of an intricate web of violence. The trafficking of women is linked to the trafficking of drugs and arms, and an increase in criminality. Rape and sexual abuse are tied to the devastation caused by HIV/AIDS and the destruction of families. Impunity for violence against women suggests impunity for criminal behaviour and the disintegration of the rule of law. Violence against women is tied also to the brutality of war, an issue that was taken up extensively in Women War and Peace, an independent expert assessment commissioned by UNIFEM and published in 2002. Our goal in this report is to highlight achievements and indicate what must be done to build on these achievements. The report provides examples of good practices as well as of efforts that did not meet the goals set out for them - and explores why not. It looks at the challenges ahead, and asks what the most fruitful next steps might be. The work of the last decades indicates several directions for the future, but one of the most critical areas is the need for collaboration and partnerships. No one government or international agency or civil society organization can hope to have an impact alone. Pooling resources, sharing strengths and knowledge and listening to local leaders will allow end-violence efforts to move to the next level. We hope that that the lessons gathered here will serve as a tool, a prod and an inspiration to those entrusted with building the rule of law and honouring human rights as the basis for human security everywhere. Details: New York: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), 2003. 114p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 10, 2018 at: https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/312_book_complete_eng.pdf Year: 2003 Country: International URL: https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/312_book_complete_eng.pdf Shelf Number: 117087 Keywords: Dowry DeathsGender-Based ViolenceGenital MutilationHomicideHuman traffickingRapeViolence Against Women, Girls |
Author: Scandinavian Research Council for Criminology Title: When the Unforeseen in Seen: NSFK Workshop in Reykjavik, Iceland, December 3-5 2009 and January 3-5 2011 Summary: The report is a collection of papers presented in NSfK's workshops "When the unforeseen is seen", in Reykjavik, Iceland, December 3-5 2009 and January 3-5 2011. On its annual board meeting in March of 2009 in Reykjavik, the Scandinavian Research Council for Criminology (SRCC) decided to organize a workshop on topics related to crisis and society. What prompted this move by SRCC was the then recent banking collapse in Iceland, followed by a social turmoil and world-wide media attention. Reykjavik was felt to be an ideal location to host the workshop since many observers had pointed to Iceland as the first victim of the crisis in W-Europe, and the nation being worst hit. The title of the workshop When the Unforeseen is Seen captures the theme of the workshop. Did these turbulent events come as a surprise or could they somehow be foreseen? The content should not only address current events, but also take a look at historic events and social turning points during earlier time periods. Moreover, the scope should be broad, not only including Nordic nations, but also other European nations, if possible. Crime and justice related topics were understandably supposed to be central, but if participants wanted to explore other aspects related to crisis and society, they were free to do so. The workshop was held at the University of Iceland in December 3-5, 2009. A total of nine participants from all of the Nordic nations participated and gave a total of ten presentations, including a summary remark. On this meeting it was decided to meet again to elaborate further on the papers presented, if funds from SRCC allowed. After being granted a positive response from SRCC the second workshop was held in Reykjavik in January 3-5, 2011. A total of eight participants attended and gave nine presentations, including two new participants, but three from the first meeting were not present. Details: Reykjavik: The Research Council, 2011. 75p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 2, 2018 at: http://www.nsfk.org/Portals/0/Archive/1_When%20the%20unforeseen%20is%20seen.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Iceland URL: http://www.nsfk.org/Portals/0/Archive/1_When%20the%20unforeseen%20is%20seen.pdf Shelf Number: 151158 Keywords: Crime RatesCriminal JusticeEconomics and CrimeHomicide |
Author: Mockus, Antanas Title: Antipodas de la violencia: Desafios de cultura ciudadana para la crisis de (in)seguridad en America Latina Summary: This book examines the relationship between culture and citizen security in eight Latin American cities. It incorporates a broad culture concept into diagnostics, analyzes, surveys and actions. What interests us most about culture is its regulatory power. The worldwide distribution of homicides and suicides shows enormous differences between countries whose explanation can not but give a great weight to cultural differences. The ability of each culture to regulate, interpret and justify certain behavior or not offers vital keys to understand and deal with the problems that come together in the current crisis of citizen security in Latin America. Cultural impunity and moral impunity sometimes come to add their effect to legal impunity. Details: Washington, DC: Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo Corpovisionarios, 2012. 314p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 8, 2018 at: https://publications.iadb.org/handle/11319/383 Year: 2012 Country: Latin America URL: https://publications.iadb.org/handle/11319/383 Shelf Number: 151061 Keywords: Citizen SecurityCrime PreventionFamily ViolenceHomicideViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Hideg, Gergely Title: Darkening Horizons: Global Violent Deaths Scenarios, 2018-30 Summary: This Briefing Paper analyses trends in global violent deaths based on data updated to 2017, which provides a benchmark for the scenarios for the period 2018-30 that constitute the main focus of the paper. The year 2017 was characterized by a marked increase in lethal violence, primarily due to a rise in homicides (that is, non-conflict deaths). The paper presents three different, but plausible scenarios reflecting possible trends in global violent deaths in the period 2018-30. These are: (1) a 'business-as-usual' scenario, where international efforts to reduce lethal violence continue as at present; (2) a positive scenario, where concerted efforts lead to reductions in global violent death rates; and (3) a negative scenario, where inaction and escalating lethal violence cause a significant increase in global violent death rates. All three scenarios are derived from longer-term trends and underline the need for policy-makers to renew efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Target 16.1. Details: Geneva, Switzerland: Small Arms Survey, 2019. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 30, 2019 at: https://reliefweb.int/report/world/darkening-horizons-global-violent-deaths-scenarios-2018-30 Year: 2019 Country: International URL: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/SAS-BP-Violent-Deaths-Scenarios.pdf Shelf Number: 156084 Keywords: Arms TraffickingFirearmsHomicideLethal ViolenceSmall ArmsViolent CrimeViolent Deaths |