NCJ Number
223063
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 36 Issue: 2 Dated: May/June 2008 Pages: 103-114
Date Published
May 2008
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study examined the manner that social support theory accounted for the dynamic between social support, ethnic heterogeneity, and homicide at the cross-national level.
Abstract
Ethnic heterogeneity exhibited strong direct effects on homicide in all of the models tested. In addition, three of the five social support measures used in the analyses were significantly associated with homicide in models that controlled for ethnic heterogeneity. Support for the proposition that social support and ethnic heterogeneity interact to influence homicides was also strong. The study makes two key contributions to the existing body of literature on social support theory. First, it was the first to examine and find partial support for the proposition that the manner in which social support influences homicide at the cross-national level is somewhat contingent upon the type or dimension of social support provided. Second, this study was the first to examine and find support for the proposition that social support and ethnic heterogeneity interact to influence homicide at the cross-national level. Despite the advances made in recent research, many questions concerning the relationship between social support and homicide have gone unresolved. Using five alternative measures of social support, this study had two objectives. First, it sought to demonstrate that social support theory accounted for the dynamic between social support, ethnic heterogeneity, and homicide at the cross-national level. The second objective was to empirically test the core propositions of social support theory as they related to social support, ethnic heterogeneity, and homicide. Appendix A and B, notes, and references