NCJ Number
196614
Journal
Homicide Studies Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2002 Pages: 240-257
Date Published
August 2002
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Crime-precipitated homicides, those in which the victim is killed while participating in illegal behavior, are the focus of this article.
Abstract
In this article, the authors present a descriptive analysis of a category of lethal violence they refer to as crime-precipitated homicide. Distinguished from felony homicides and victim-precipitated homicides, crime-precipitated homicides are those in which the victim is killed while participating in illegal behavior. After discussing the utility of disaggregating homicide data so that insights on the variety of forms of lethal violence can be examined, the authors discuss the data used in this study. Data from the “Homicides in Chicago, 1965 to 1995” dataset were analyzed, and homicides were classified as crime-precipitated homicides, further subcategorized as predatory, vice, and narcotics offenses. Of the 23,817 homicide victims and 26,032 implicated offenders in Chicago between 1965 and 1995, the authors classify 645 of the homicides as crime-precipitated. After describing crime-precipitated offender and victim characteristics and the circumstances behind these crimes, the authors discuss how crime-precipitated homicides differ from other types of homicides. In predatory crime-precipitated homicides, almost half of the victims and offenders were between the ages of 15 and 24, almost four fifths were Black, and victims and offenders where overwhelmingly male and often had prior criminal records. In vice crime-precipitated homicides, one fourth of offenders were older than 50, a higher proportion of offenders were white, and firearms were infrequently used. In narcotics related crime-precipitated homicides, offenders were young, overwhelmingly Black, and almost exclusively male. 10 Tables, 25 references