Femicide and Social Disorganization

Abstract

In the United States, homicide is a leading cause of death among young women. In New York City between 1990 and 1997, although the overall number of femicides declined markedly, intimate partner femicides increased. The reason for this is unclear. Sociostructural accounts of homicide rates have traditionally focused on the importance of socioeconomic factors indicative of social disorganization. A feminist critique of this perspective suggests that such factors are less important to intimate partner femicide. Using census data on community-level sociostructural factors and surveillance data on femicides between 1990 and 1997 in New York City, the authors evaluate the relative importance of sociostructural factors in models of intimate partner and non-intimate partner femicide.