Regional Variations in Lethal and Nonlethal Assaults

Abstract

Data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System are used to evaluate aspects of recent “culture of violence” theories. The results call into question the existence of a pervasive White code of honor in Southern cities. The situation is less clear for some Southern counties. Black homicide offender rates for cities with populations of more than 50,000, North and South, are much higher when compared with White homicide offender rates for the same cities. Although these high Black offender rates do not, in themselves, provide support for the existence of a widespread “Black code of the streets,” they do suggest that the factors and situations that produce these rates are not uniquely Southern. At a minimum, this examination of race-specific violent offender rates for cities and the areas outside those cities indicates the limitations of a focus on regional differences in overall state-level rates of victimization.