NCJ Number
144510
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 7 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1992) Pages: 279-286
Date Published
1992
Length
8 pages
Annotation
With the use of a public health approach, this study explored the possibility that male and female rates of homicide victimization may show differential patterns of association with selected social-structural risk factors across a sample of U.S. central cities.
Abstract
Although a considerable amount of research has addressed the identification of structural correlates of homicide across places in the United States, recent research has found that general correlates may not hold when homicide rates are disaggregated into analysis of specific groups. This study used an epidemiological perspective to examine whether social-structural factors related to general rates of homicide victimization are similarly related to the rates of male and female homicide victimization. Central cities were selected for the study. Data for the computation of sex-specific rates of homicide victimization as well as each city's overall rates were taken from the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports for 1979-81. These years were selected to correspond to data for independent variables derived from the 1980 national census. Data were available for 272 central cities. Results show that both male and female homicide victimization is related to a general set of factors derived from the theoretical framework of social disorganization. These factors were found, however, to be better predictors of male than female homicides. Suggestions are offered for research to discern additional factors, perhaps distinct from those of men, related to the considerable variation in the prevalence of female homicide across communities in the United States. 2 tables and 26 references