Homicide Research Articles

The Spatial Scale and Spread of Child Victimization.

Previous research shows that large, densely populated urban areas have higher rates of child victimization that have persisted over time. However, few investigations have inquired about the processes that produce and sustain hot and cold spots of child victimization. As a result, the mechanisms that produce the observed spatial clustering of child victimization, and hence "why" harms against children tend to cluster in space, remains unknown. Does the likelihood of being a victim of violence in one location depend on a similar event happening in a nearby location within a specified timeframe? Rather, are child victims of violence more likely to reside in suboptimal neighborhood conditions? This paper aims to present an analytical and theoretical framework for distinguishing between these locational (point) processes to determine whether the empirical spatial patterns undergirding child victimization are more reflective of the "spread" via contagion (i.e., dependency) or whether they are produced by neighborhood structural inequality resulting from spatial heterogeneity. To detect spatial dependence, we applied the inhomogeneous K-function to Los Angeles Medical Examiner data on child homicide victim locations while controlling for regional differences in victimization events (i.e., heterogeneity). Our analysis found strong evidence of spatial clustering in child victimization at small spatial scales but inhibition at larger scales. We further found limited support for the spatiotemporal clustering of child victimization indicative of a contagion effect. Overall, our results support the role of neighborhood structural vulnerability in the underlying mechanisms producing patterns of child victimization across Los Angeles County. We conclude by discussing the policy implications for understanding this spatial patterning in geographical context and for developing effective and targeted preventive interventions.

Counting the days: Exploring the post-mortem interval factors in sexual homicides.

This study explores the offender, victim, and environmental characteristics that significantly influence the number of days a sexual homicide victim remains undiscovered. Utilizing a sample of 269 cases from the Homicide Investigation Tracking System database an in-depth analysis was conducted to unveil the factors contributing to the delay in the discovery of victims' bodies. The methodological approach involves applying a negative binomial regression analysis, which allows for the examination of count data, specifically addressing the over-dispersion and excess zeros in the dependent variable - the number of days until the victim is found. The findings reveal that certain offender characteristics, victim traits, and spatio-temporal factors play a pivotal role in the time lag experienced in locating the bodies of homicide victims. These findings have crucial implications for investigative efforts in homicide cases, offering valuable insights that can inform and enhance the efficacy and efficiency of future investigative procedures and strategies.

Older Adult Homicide: Investigating Case, Victim and Perpetrator Characteristics in a National Sample from England and Wales

Abstract Older adult homicide (OAH) is the most severe, yet understudied, form of older adult abuse. This study examined the case, victim and perpetrator characteristics of OAH. A secondary analysis of national data from England and Wales (2008–2019) was conducted where cases of non-stranger OAH (victims aged sixty years and over) were compared to adult homicide (victims aged eighteen to fifty-nine years) at the case, victim (n = 3,274) and perpetrator (n = 2,763) levels. Logistic regression models used to identify characteristics that were OAH risk factors, showed only a slight increase in predictive power but high accuracy in classifying adult homicide cases. Nevertheless, some risk factors known to be predictors of older adult abuse were significant predictors of OAH (e.g. living with the perpetrator, the perpetrator’s mental state). Implications for research, policy and practice are discussed.

The death of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Queen of Hungary-retold and reassessed with reconstruction of her autopsy.

In this publication 125years after the violent death of the famous Empress Elisabeth (1837-1898) of Austria, known as Sisi, amodern evaluation as well as valuation will be presented. The day after her assassination by the young anarchist Luigi Lucheni using a file, apartial autopsy was performed to find out the exact cause of death-apericardial tamponade. The complete translation of the autopsy report is part of this article, the intention being to avoid unclear wording and translation errors, which have often caused some confusion in the past. Apictorial illustration of the puncture canal will provide clarity through medical facts as to how Empress Elisabeth's death came about by correct pathological and anatomical description and, thus, counteract former interpretations.

BRUTALISED, BOUND AND BLED: A CASE OF LATER IRON AGE HUMAN SACRIFICE FROM WINTERBORNE KINGSTON, DORSET

Although the practice of human sacrifice in the British Iron Age is mentioned by multiple authors, both ancient and modern, physical proof of such activity in the archaeological record is comparatively rare. At Winterborne Kingston, in Dorset, the skeletal remains of a young adult female found face down near the base of a cylindrical storage pit provides clear evidence of violent death in the later Iron Age. Analysis of the skeleton suggests an individual who led a hard-working life and who, having suffered an act of violence a few weeks before death, was killed, possibly with her hands tied, by a blade incision to the neck. Placement of the body further suggests that killing was enacted within the pit, execution as spectacle forming the final act in a larger ceremony involving the creation of an animal bone stack or platform.

Ecofeminism and the Cultural Affinity to Genocidal Capitalism: Theorising Necropolitical Femicide in Contemporary Greece

Resilient necrocapitalism and the zombie genre of representations of current dystopias are persistent in their political purpose in producing changes in the social order to benefit plutocracies around the world. It is through a thanatopolitical lens that we should view the successive losses of life, and this zombie genre has come to represent a dystopia that, for political purposes, is intended to produce changes in societies which have tolerated the violent deaths of women. This article focuses on contemporary Greece and proposes a theoretical framework where femicide is understood as a social phenomenon that reflects a global gendered necropolitical logic which equals genocide. Such theoretical assemblages have to be situated within intersectional imperatives and tacitly as the result of the capitalist terror state performed in an expansive and direct immediate death, exacerbated by the lingering slow social death of the welfare state. The article contends that the scripted hetero-patriarchal social order of the necrocapitalist state poses a unique political threat to societies. With the silence of the complicity of the state, what is necessary is the creation and spread of new political knowledge and new social movements as resilient political tactics of resistance. This article foregrounds an ecofeminist perspective on these issues and considers ways through which new pedagogies of hope can counter the gendered necropolitics of contemporary capitalism in Greece.

Violence, Democracy and Criminal Justice in five South American countries (2014-2020)

Latin America is the most violent region in the world. Its average rate exceeds 20 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, while the global average rate is 6 per 100,000 and the epidemic limit is 10 per 100,000. No consolidated democracy has uncontrolled rates of homicidal violence, none of them have high impunity and a low rate of rule of law. Our task in this paper will be to relate violence, the level of democracy and criminal justice as a proxy indicator of the rule of law in five representative countries in Latin America. To this end, we use the following as indicators for measuring, classifying and correlating these concepts: democracy indices from The Economist's Democracy Index; UNODC homicide rates per hundred thousand inhabitants as a proxy for violence; and the factor eight criminal justice indices from the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index (2021). Our theoretical argument, or conjecture to be tested, was that the indicators of violence, democracy and criminal justice as a factor of the Rule of Law are associated. In other words, the signs of statistical correlations and crossing data sets from the 2014-2020 time series point to a higher level of democracy when there is a higher level of criminal justice and, in turn, lower levels of violence. Data analysis confirmed our theoretical conjecture and, in the five countries analyzed, violence tends to fall with the improvement of criminal justice indicators (Rule of Law) and reflects a better quality of democracy.

What’s at Stake for Women in Mexico after the 2024 Presidential Elections?

The next president of Mexico will almost certainly be a woman since both major coalitions have nom- inated women for the 2024 presidential election. Which candidate is likely to more effectively ad- dress the crisis of gender violence? This paper com- pares the record of female and male governors in reducing female homicide rates and also examines the records of Morena and PAN governors in reduc- ing violence against women. The statistical results show that the sex of governors had very little im- pact on female homicide rates. States governed by the PAN had slightly lower rates of female homicide than others. In general, states with Morena governors did not have lower female homicide rates, but the female homicide rate did decline in Mexico City under Claudia Sheinbaum’s leadership.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality Among US Youth

Mortality rates in US youth have increased in recent years. An understanding of the role of racial and ethnic disparities in these increases is lacking. To compare all-cause and cause-specific mortality trends and rates among youth with Hispanic ethnicity and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, and White race. This cross-sectional study conducted temporal analysis (1999-2020) and comparison of aggregate mortality rates (2016-2020) for youth aged 1 to 19 years using US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research database. Data were analyzed from June 30, 2023, to January 17, 2024. Pooled, all-cause, and cause-specific mortality rates per 100 000 youth (hereinafter, per 100 000) for leading underlying causes of death were compared. Injuries were classified by mechanism and intent. Between 1999 and 2020, there were 491 680 deaths among US youth, including 8894 (1.8%) American Indian or Alaska Native, 14 507 (3.0%) Asian or Pacific Islander, 110 154 (22.4%) Black, 89 251 (18.2%) Hispanic, and 267 452 (54.4%) White youth. Between 2016 and 2020, pooled all-cause mortality rates were 48.79 per 100 000 (95% CI, 46.58-51.00) in American Indian or Alaska Native youth, 15.25 per 100 000 (95% CI, 14.75-15.76) in Asian or Pacific Islander youth, 42.33 per 100 000 (95% CI, 41.81-42.86) in Black youth, 21.48 per 100 000 (95% CI, 21.19-21.77) in Hispanic youth, and 24.07 per 100 000 (95% CI, 23.86-24.28) in White youth. All-cause mortality ratios compared with White youth were 2.03 (95% CI, 1.93-2.12) among American Indian or Alaska Native youth, 0.63 (95% CI, 0.61-0.66) among Asian or Pacific Islander youth, 1.76 (95% CI, 1.73-1.79) among Black youth, and 0.89 (95% CI, 0.88-0.91) among Hispanic youth. From 2016 to 2020, the homicide rate in Black youth was 12.81 (95% CI, 12.52-13.10) per 100 000, which was 10.20 (95% CI, 9.75-10.66) times that of White youth. The suicide rate for American Indian or Alaska Native youth was 11.37 (95% CI, 10.30-12.43) per 100 000, which was 2.60 (95% CI, 2.35-2.86) times that of White youth. The firearm mortality rate for Black youth was 12.88 (95% CI, 12.59-13.17) per 100 000, which was 4.14 (95% CI, 4.00-4.28) times that of White youth. American Indian or Alaska Native youth had a firearm mortality rate of 6.67 (95% CI, 5.85-7.49) per 100 000, which was 2.14 (95% CI, 1.88- 2.43) times that of White youth. Black youth had an asthma mortality rate of 1.10 (95% CI, 1.01-1.18) per 100 000, which was 7.80 (95% CI, 6.78-8.99) times that of White youth. In this study, racial and ethnic disparities were observed for almost all leading causes of injury and disease that were associated with recent increases in youth mortality rates. Addressing the increasing disparities affecting American Indian or Alaska Native and Black youth will require efforts to prevent homicide and suicide, especially those events involving firearms.

Artificial Intelligence and the National Violent Death Reporting System: A Rapid Review.

As the awareness on violent deaths from guns, drugs, and suicides emerges as a public health crisis in the United States, attempts to prevent injury and mortality through nursing research are critical. The National Violent Death Reporting System provides public health surveillance of US violent deaths; however, understanding the National Violent Death Reporting System's research utility is limited. The purpose of our rapid review of the 2019-2023 literature was to understand to what extent artificial intelligence methods are being used with the National Violent Death Reporting System. We identified 16 National Violent Death Reporting System artificial intelligence studies, with more than half published after 2020. The text-rich content of National Violent Death Reporting System enabled researchers to center their artificial intelligence approaches mostly on natural language processing (50%) or natural language processing and machine learning (37%). Significant heterogeneity in approaches, techniques, and processes was noted across the studies, with critical methods information often lacking. The aims and focus of National Violent Death Reporting System studies were homogeneous and mostly examined suicide among nurses and older adults. Our findings suggested that artificial intelligence is a promising approach to the National Violent Death Reporting System data with significant untapped potential in its use. Artificial intelligence may prove to be a powerful tool enabling nursing scholars and practitioners to reduce the number of preventable, violent deaths.

Physician homicide: Reports in the National Violent Death Reporting System (2003–2018)

ObjectiveTo explore the occurrence, demographics, and circumstances of homicides of physicians. MethodAuthors interrogated the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's surveillance system tracking violent deaths between 2003 and 2018 which integrates data from law enforcement and coroner/medical examiner reports. Authors identified cases of homicide decedents whose profession was physician, surgeon, or psychiatrist. Data collected included decedents' demographics as well as circumstances of death. ResultsData were provided by 7–41 states as participating states increased over time. Fifty-six homicides were reported, most were male (73.2%) and white (76.8%). Most (67.9%) identified assailants reportedly knew decedents: 23.2% were perpetrated by partners/ex-partners; 10.7% by patients/patients' family members. Deaths were mainly due to gunshot wounds (44.6%), stabbing (16.1%), and blunt force trauma (16.1%). More (58.9%) homicides occurred at victims' homes than work (16.1%). ConclusionsPhysician homicides are relatively rare and occur at lower rates than in the general population. Physicians were more frequently killed by partners or ex-partners than by patients. Most homicides occurred away from the workplace. Broader efforts are needed to promote interventions throughout America's violent society to reduce domestic/partner violence and gun violence.

States' Abortion Laws Associated With Intimate Partner Violence-Related Homicide Of Women And Girls In The US, 2014-20.

Women who are pregnant or recently gave birth are significantly more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than nonpregnant, nonpostpartum women of reproductive age, implicating the risk of fatal violence conferred by pregnancy itself. The rapidly increasing passage of state legislation has restricted or banned access to abortion care across the US. We used the most recent and only source of population-based data to examine the association between state laws that restrict access to abortion and trends in intimate partner violence-related homicide among women and girls ages10-44 during the period 2014-20. Using robust difference-in-differences ecologic modeling, we found that enforcement of each additional Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) law was associated with a 3.4percent increase in the rate of intimate partner violence-related homicide in this population. We estimated that 24.3 intimate partner violence-related homicides of women and girls ages10-44 were associated with TRAP laws implemented in the states and years included in this analysis. Assessment of policies that restrict access to abortion should consider their potential harm to reproductive-age women through the risk for violent death.

Limits and pitfalls in a lethal infant cocaine intoxication

ABSTRACT The case concerns the first Italian report of a fatal cocaine intoxication in an 8-month-old baby girl found dead in the cradle by her parents at 6 am on a summer day. At arrival to the emergency department, the doctors declared the baby dead and the Prosecutor Office ordered an autopsy and toxicological analyses. Despite no history of cocaine use/abuse by both parents, toxicological analyses evidenced a positivity to cocaine in the post-mortem blood, brain and liver. The legal physician concluded for a fatal cocaine intoxication. A crucial aspect to the Court was to discriminate between administration (accidental or voluntary) and intake (almost accidentally), due to different legal consequences for parents (i.e. voluntary homicide or inadequate supervision). In the here presented case discriminating the exact intake was almost impossible in terms of certainty. Such difficulty mainly derived from lacks in the investigation activities in the first hours following the death. Among all possible intake routes, the ‘most probable’ was the accidental one, mostly attributable to a cradle contamination. A lack in the site inspection protocol could strongly affect the case solution making it impossible to offer the Court a definitive ‘scientific’ solution to the case (based on scientifically irrefutable data).

"There's room to do more": a mixed-methods study of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) diversion program and intimate partner violence in Georgia.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a risk factor for homicides and suicides. As poverty is both a predictor and a consequence of IPV, interventions that alleviate poverty-related stressors could mitigate IPV-related harms. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a monthly cash assistance program, is one such potential intervention. In the state of Georgia, the TANF diversion program, which provides a non-recurrent lump-sum payment to deter individuals from monthly TANF benefits, is an understudied component of TANF that may influence the effectiveness of state TANF programs in supporting IPV survivors. This study quantifies and qualifies the role of Georgia's TANF diversion program in shaping IPV-related mortality. This study relies on a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. Using data from the Georgia Violent Death Reporting System (GA-VDRS), an interrupted time series analysis was conducted to estimate the effect of TANF diversion on IPV-related homicides and suicides. Semi-structured interviews were then administered with TANF policy experts and advocates, welfare caseworkers, and benefit recipients (n = 20) to contextualize the quantitative findings. The interrupted time series analysis revealed three fewer IPV-related deaths per month after implementing TANF diversion, compared to pre-diversion forecasts (coefficient = -3.003, 95%CI [-5.474, -0.532]). However, the qualitative interviews illustrated three themes regarding TANF diversion: (1) it is a "band-aid" solution to the access barriers associated with TANF, (2) it provides short-term relief to recipients making hard choices, and (3) its limitations reveal avenues for policy change. While diversion has the potential to reduce deaths from IPV, it may be an insufficient means of mitigating the poverty-related contributors to IPV harms. Its limitations unveil the need for improved programs to better support IPV survivors.

Hurried Child Syndrome: Are we Creating an Advanced Generation or Destroying it?

Parents who overschedule their children, put a lot of pressure on them to succeed academically, and want them to act and behave like tiny adults beyond their mental, social, or emotional capabilities are considered to be suffering from the disease known as "hurried child syndrome." Due to this, there has been a 50% rise in childhood obesity, a tripling in suicide and murder rates, 15-20% of young children are "flunking" kindergarden and millions of children are medicated in order to make them more 'controllable' at home and in school over the last 20 years. notably typical symptoms are headaches, diarrhoea, hyperactivity, cramping in the muscles, insomnia, digestive issues, and bedwetting. Drug and alcohol dependency is currently the most prevalent cause of death among adolescents, moreover, suicide incidents are also rising. About 70% of teenage girls will not be virgins by the time they reach adulthood, and 40% of those who are sexually active will become pregnant. The most significant aspect is to pay close attention to the adolescents and attempt to comprehend their unique needs and abilities. It's wonderful if a child loves education and engaging in extracurricular activities, but if they are having difficulty or are resistant, it's best to step back and give them space to learn as much as they can at their own pace.

Modernization Theory Revised: Testing the Relationship between Inward Foreign Direct Investment and Homicide

Purpose: Modernization theory suggests that economic development is temporarily disruptive to social life and can lead to crimes of violence such as homicide. However, few studies have considered how the modernization process works. Specifically, they neglected the role of globalization. Previous research has suggested that certain measures of globalization may be theoretically linked to homicide. This study examines how inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), a key component of globalization and economic development, is associated with cross-national homicide rates.
 Methods: Data from 101 countries were collected and analyzed to examine the relationship between inward FDI and homicide. Indirect effects of inward FDI on homicide through urbanization and economic growth were also examined.
 Results: The results show that inward foreign direct investment increases cross-national homicide rates, both directly and indirectly through increased urbanization.
 Conclusion: While economic development benefits society, the concomitant, deleterious effects should be considered by policymakers, especially those seeking inward foreign direct investment in their countries. Future researchers will want to consider examining other measures of globalization.

Invisible Wounds: Exploring the Coping Strategies of Black Survivors of Homicide Victims in Canada.

Canada has experienced a steady increase in homicide. Specifically, out of the 10 provinces and 3 territories, Ontario has consistently experienced the highest number of homicides, the majority concentrated within predominantly African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) communities in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Despite this disproportionate reality, there is limited research on the ways in which survivors of homicide victims cope with the murder of their loved ones. This article explores the identification and characterization of coping strategies for ACB survivors of homicide victims residing in five neighbourhoods in the GTA. Participants in this study provided their insights and experiences, highlighting the coping mechanisms employed, the influence of cultural identity, and the challenges they experienced in accessing adequate care following the death of their loved ones. Implications for future research, policy and practice are discussed.

Natural Death and Teleology in Aristotle’s Science of Living Beings

Abstract According to most interpreters, Aristotle explains death as the result of material processes of the body going against the nature of the living being. Yet, this description is incomplete, for it does not clarify the relationship between the process of decay and the teleological system in which it occurs: this makes it impossible to distinguish between natural and violent death. In this paper, I try to fill this gap by looking at his so-called ‘biological works’ and mainly at the De Juventute. I first introduce the specific concept of life at play in this treatise and prove its complementarity with the framework of the De Anima. Then, I illustrate in detail the process of dying and the reasons why a merely material description is insufficient to account for the distinction between natural and violent death. Finally, I show that for Aristotle natural death is a by-product of teleologically directed life activities: only against the background of this teleological structure is natural death fully explained in terms of essence and causes. To support this claim, I compare death to two analogous cases in Aristotle’s biology, namely dreams and the features of GA V.

The effectiveness of treatment depending on an adherence to dispensary observation and antiretroviral therapy in patients with HIV infection

Aim. Determination of the causes of deaths and analysis of the survival of people living with HIV, depending on an adherence to dispensary observation and treatment. Materials and methods. The analysis of socio-demographic characteristics and clinical and laboratory data of 284 adult HIV patients observed in 1999–2011 at the Lomonosov Interdistrict Hospital named after I. N. Yudchenko was carried out. Patients who followed the prescribed monitoring regimen (at least 2 times a doctor’s visit during the year) were considered committed to dispensary supervision. Patients who observed the regularity and continuity of monitoring and receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) were considered committed to treatment. Among the patients included in the study, 115 people were committed to treatment or follow-up and 169 patients were non-committed. Objective (biological) indicators of adherence and effectiveness of treatmentwere the number of CD4 lymphocytes and the level of HIV viral load. Based on the method of comparing survival curves, factors related to the life expectancy of HIV patients were assessed, taking into account the gender of patients, their adherence to monitoring and treatment, indicators of HIV viral load and the number of CD4 lymphocytes and the outcome of the disease from the moment of registration at the dispensary and over the next 120 months (after 3 months, 6 months, 1.5 years, 2 years, 5, 7 and 10 years). Results and discussion. Significant differences were found in the survival curves of patients who received and did not receive ART (117.9 and 91.4 months, p<0.005) and patients who were committed and non-committed to therapy (116.9 and 83.8 months, p<0.005). Regardless of adherence to outpatient follow-up and therapy, the survival time of women compared to men for the entire follow-up period was longer (105.0 and 92.4 months, respectively, p<0.005). Among those committed to treatment, 21% of patients died due to concomitant somatic pathology, 5% from injuries incompatible with life. In the group of those committedto follow–up, the causes of deaths in 12% were various somatic pathology, brain lymphoma — in 1% and injuries incompatible with life — in 3% of cases. The highest mortality rates were recorded among patients who were not exposed to ART (71%) and the routine of follow-up (52%). Almost half of these patients (49%) died from secondary HIV infections, of which 85% of cases were posthumously diagnosed with tuberculosis, mainly the pulmonary form of the disease. The second most common cause of death was violent death, including drug poisoning. Conclusion. Regular dispensary observation, timely initiation of ART and adherence to therapy make it possible to control the disease, prevent the development of opportunistic pathology, and improve the quality and life expectancy of patients with HIV infection. Despite the increased availability of ART and strategies for active involvement and retention of patients in dispensary care, issues of patient adherence to therapy remain key in the management of HIV patients.

EXPLORING THE DAILY HORRORS OF LIFE IN IRAQ THROUGH FRANKENSTEIN IN BAGHDAD

Iraqi writer Ahmed Saadawi's 2014 International Arabic Fiction Prize–winning book Frankenstein in Baghdad is the subject of this article. I contend that Saadawi identifies the origins of the terrorism.Since the United States took over the country. Rooted in terror is apprehension. Judith Butler describes the current state of affairs as "a precarious life," where the threat of violent death is ever present, and the breakdown of central authority has released the monster of fear.Furthermore, new Iraqi actors' power struggles breed egotism, demagogy, and exploitation. Recognizing that everyone is responsible is an essential theme throughout the book. A possible escape from the horrors of the civil war and slaughter would be possible if people would only accept responsibility for their actions and recognize that no one is ultimately a victim or a perpetrator.