Alcohol and Homicide in the United States 1934-1995: Or One Reason Why U.S. Rates of Violence May Be Going down

Abstract

In the last few years, a great deal of attention has been devoted to the apparent decline in rates of homicide and other kinds of violence in the United States. Commentators debate whether rates of violence are actually declining, and what are the reasons for this apparent decline. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility that one reason for the apparent recent decline in homicide may be its relationship to the rate of alcohol consumption during this same time period. As there is a growing body of research that shows a significant relationship between alcohol and violence at different levels of aggregation, in different countries and sub-units of countries, among different types of people, and across time periods, we will also explore the homicide and alcohol relationship by race and by type of alcoholic beverage. There are also the beginnings of a theoretical body of knowledge that would explain why variations in alcohol consumption and availability should be considered part of the explanation for variations in the rate of homicide and other types of violence. These issues will be discussed in detail in this