Social Structure and Homicide: Theory and Research (From Homicide: A Sourcebook of Social Research, P 27-41, 1999, M. Dwayne Smith and Margaret A. Zahn, eds. -- See NCJ-186214)

• NCJ Number: 186217
• Author(s): Steven F. Messner; Richard Rosenfeld
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter describes social-structural approaches to the study of homicide, distinguishes them from cultural approaches, and reviews key research on the structural sources of lethal violence.

Abstract

The structural perspective is based on the premise that killings are not simply idiosyncratic, individual acts of violence. Rather, they are "social facts" that are distributed in patterned ways. The authors' description of structural approaches situates them within a broader conception of social organization. Within this conceptual framework, structural influences on homicide are subdivided into two basic types: control influences, in which structural weaknesses or ruptures free or release people to engage in violence; and strain influences, in which structural forces push or pressure persons into violence. The chapter begins by describing the concept of social organization and its attendant components and explaining the theoretical linkages of this concept to homicide. The authors next review theory and research on the major structural correlates of homicide: class, gender, race, and age. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of important issues for future research on homicide and social organization. 15 notes and 92 references