NCJ Number
220073
Journal
Homicide Studies Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2007 Pages: 167-188
Date Published
August 2007
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This study provides insight into the extent to which homicide rates vary across a sample of European Union (EU) cities and the extent to which the variation is related to differences in the social and economic forces characterizing those cities.
Abstract
Results of the study indicate that there is substantial variation in homicide rates in the sample of European cities, across Eastern and Western European countries, and across cities within these countries. The results also indicate that some of the classic covariates identified in earlier studies are important and robust predictors of homicide in the analysis. Population structure exhibits a significant relationship with the homicide rate: the higher the city’s urbanism, the higher the homicide rate in that city. In addition, it was found that the higher the level of deprivation in a city, the higher the homicide rate. Notwithstanding the unique backgrounds of these European cities and countries, these findings inform us that criminological theories have identified structural forces that influence violent behavior across geographic areas, forces that have likewise been identified fairly consistently across United States macro-level homicide studies. It is important to replicate these aggregate-level homicide studies and expand the sample to include other cities within these European countries, and within other non-European countries. Most previous empirical comparative studies of homicide examine homicide rates across nations or subnational units within a single country. This study is the first in which a European cross-national city comparison was made. This study explored homicide rates across a sample of European cities and examined the extent to which classic covariates of homicide identified in the existing United States subnational and in cross-national homicide studies explained the variation in their homicide rates. Tables, appendixes, notes, and references