PATTERNS OF MIDDLE AND UPPER CLASS HOMICIDE

• NCJ Number: 58762
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 70 Issue: 2 Dated: (SUMMER 1979) Pages: 172-181
• Author(s): E GREEN; R P WAKEFIELD
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 10 pages
• Corporate Author: Northwestern University; Williams and Wilkins Co
• Sale Source: Williams and Wilkins Co; Institute for Scientific Information
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

SOCIAL CLASS DIFFERENCES IN RATES AND PATTERNS OF CRIMINAL HOMICIDE ARE EXPLORED IN A STUDY FOCUSING ON NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF 119 HOMICIDES COMMITTED BY PERSONS OF MIDDLE- OR UPPER-CLASS STATUS FROM 1955 THROUGH 1975.

Abstract

CHARACTERISTICS OF UPPER-CLASS HOMICIDES GLEANED FROM NEW YORK TIMES ACCOUNTS ARE COMPARED WITH CHARACTERISTICS REPORTED IN THE RESEARCH LITERATURE, MOST OF WHICH DEALS WITH HOMICIDES AMONG PERSONS OF LOWER-CLASS STATUS. EXCEPT FOR THE SEX OF THE OFFENDER, THE STATISTICAL PROFILES OF UPPER- AND LOWER-CLASS HOMICIDES ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. HOMICIDE IS FAR MORE COMMON IN THE LOWER CLASSES. THE UPPER-CLASS KILLER IS TYPICALLY A WHITE MALE, OVER 30. THE TYPICAL LOWER-CLASS KILLER IS A BLACK MALE, UNDER 30. PREMEDITATION, UNCOMMON IN LOWER-CLASS KILLINGS, IS A FEATURE OF MORE THAN THREE-FOURTHS OF UPPER-CLASS HOMICIDES. UPPER-CLASS KILLERS ARE MORE OFTEN MOTIVATED BY DESIRE FOR PECUNIARY GAIN THAN ARE THEIR LOWER-CLASS COUNTERPARTS. MENTAL DEPRESSION, THE SECOND MOST COMMON MOTIVE IN UPPER-CLASS KILLINGS, RARELY EVEN APPEARS AS A CATEGORY OF ANALYSIS IN STUDIES OF LOWER-CLASS HOMICIDES. VICTIM PRECIPITATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH ONE-FIFTH TO ONE-THIRD OF ALL LOWER-CLASS HOMICIDES BUT IS VIRTUALLY ABSENT IN UPPER-CLASS CASES. (ONE INTERPRETATION OF THIS FINDING IS THAT VICTIM PRECIPITATION SERVES MUCH THE SAME PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION FOR LOWER-CLASS PERSONS AS SUICIDE DOES FOR UPPER-CLASS PERSONS). INTRAFAMILIAL HOMICIDE PREDOMINATES IN UPPER-CLASS CASES, OCCURRING THREE TIMES AS OFTEN AS IT DOES IN LOWER-CLASS CASES. HOMICIDE FOLLOWED BY SUICIDE IS FAR MORE COMMON IN UPPER-CLASS THAN LOWER-CLASS CASES. ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IS RARELY RELATED TO UPPER-CLASS HOMICIDE, BUT OVER ONE-HALF OF LOWER-CLASS KILLINGS ARE ALCOHOL RELATED. UPPER-CLASS KILLINGS ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY THAN LOWER-CLASS KILLINGS TO OCCUR AT THE VICTIM'S HOME. THESE AND OTHER FINDINGS UNDERSCORE THE NEED TO BROADEN THE THEORETICAL BASE FOR EXPLAINING HOMICIDE TO ENCOMPASS THE FULL RANGE OF PERSONAL, SITUATIONAL, MOTIVATIONAL, AND INTERACTIONAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CRIME. SUPPORTING DATA ARE INCLUDED. (LKM)