The Influence of Event Characteristics and Actors' Behaviour on the Outcome of Violent Events: Comparing Lethal with Non-Lethal Events

Abstract

This study examines to what extent event characteristics and actors' behaviour contribute to the escalation of an event into a lethal outcome. We examined Dutch court files of 267 events in which offenders were convicted for either lethal violence (i.e. homicide, N = 126) or non-lethal violence (i.e. attempted homicide, N = 141). Pronounced differences were found between lethal versus non-lethal events with respect to event characteristics and to actors' behaviour in particular. Also, several situational characteristics including event characteristics and actors' behaviour were found to be significantly predictive of the lethality of violent events, especially regarding alcohol use by victims, firearm use by offenders, victim precipitation and the absence of third parties. Language: en