NCJ Number
172683
Journal
Homicide Studies Volume: 1 Issue: 4 Dated: November 1997 Pages: 359-376
Date Published
1997
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Data from 157 homicide victims in Buffalo, N.Y., from January 1992 through December 1993 were used to differentiate victim demographic and situational factors within and among various types of homicide and to distinguish victims who were more culpable from those who were more or less guiltless in the events surrounding their victimization.
Abstract
The Buffalo Police Department provided data on the homicides and criminal histories, while the Erie County Medical Examiner's files provided information on alcohol and drug levels in the victim at the time of the homicide. Seven percent of the cases could not be classified. Among the other cases, 26.1 percent involved victims who were innocent nonparticipants, 21 percent were noncriminal facilitating, 31 percent were criminal facilitating, and 13.4 percent were criminal precipitating. The types of victimization varied depending on the characteristics and behavior of the victim as well as the situation in which the violence developed. Findings indicated that persons involved in nonaggressive offense activities such as drug dealing, drug consumption, and other excessive risk-taking activities away form home have high potential for victimization. Findings also demonstrated the usefulness of distinguishing acts of victimization along a continuum in explaining homicidal incidents in the form of participation and not merely relying on the term of precipitation and an assessment of who started the incident. Tables, notes, appended definitions of victim categories, and 47 references (Author abstract modified)