Using a classification of homicides based on the victim–offender relationship, this research analyzes individual-level data from a local prosecutor's office in Taiwan with multinomial logistic regression to locate the more precise correlates of three different homicide relationship types. The results of the analyses provide further support for the hypothesis that such partitioning of homicides is fruitful in revealing the relationships otherwise obscured. They indicate that both sociodemographic variables and situational variables are important correlates of three different homicide relationships, but their strengths vary based on the particular homicide relationship type. Age and crime premises correlate with homicide differently based on the victim–offender relationship. Premeditation is related to acquaintance homicide but not to intimate homicide. In contrast, previous conviction is associated with intimate homicide but not with acquaintance homicide. The implication of the findings is discussed within the limitation of the data.
Block, R. (1981). Victim-offender dynamics in violent crime. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 72, 743-761.
2.
Broadhurst, R. (2004). Crime trends in Hong Kong: Another look at the safe city. In R. G. Broadhoust (Ed.), Crime and its control in the People's Republic of China (pp. 133-148). Hong Kong: Central Printing Press.
3.
Browne, A., & Williams, K.R. (1995). Exploring the effect of resource availability and the likelihood of female-perpetrated homicides. Law and Society Review, 23, 75-94.
4.
Cao, L. (2004). Major criminological theories: Concepts and measurement . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
5.
Cao, L., Cullen, F.T., & Link, B.G. (1997). The social determinants of gun ownership: Self-protection in an urban environment. Criminology, 35(4), 629-657.
6.
Cao, L., & Dai, M. (2006). Confidence in the police: Where does Taiwan rank in the world? Asian Journal of Criminology, 1, 71-84.
7.
Cohen, L.E., & Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588-608.
8.
Decker, S.H. (1993). Exploring victim-offender relationships in homicide: The role of individual and event characteristics. Justice Quarterly, 10, 585-612.
9.
Decker, S.H. (1996). Deviant homicide: A new look at the role of motives and victim-offender relationships. Homicide Studies, 33, 427-449.
10.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (1998). Uniform crime reporting handbook. Washington, DC : U.S. Department of Justice.
11.
Finch, A. (2001). Homicide in contemporary Japan. British Journal of Criminology, 41, 219-235.
12.
Gallup-Black, A. (2005). Twenty years of rural and urban trends in family and intimate partner homicide. Homicide Studies, 9, 149-173.
He, N., Cao, L., Wells, W., & Maguire, E.R. (2003). Forces of production and direction: A test of an expanded model of suicide and homicide. Homicide Studies , 7, 36-57.
15.
Hoskin, A.W. (2001). Armed Americans: The impact of firearm availability on national homicide rates. Justice Quarterly, 18, 569-592.
16.
Kovandzic, T.V., Vieraitis, L.M., & Yeisley, M.R. (1998). The structural covariates of urban homicide: Reassessing the impact of income inequality and poverty in the post-Reagan era. Criminology, 36, 569-599.
17.
Kubrin, C.E. (2003). Structural covariates of homicide rates: Does type of homicide matter? Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 40, 139-170.
18.
Law Yearbook of China, 1987-1998. (1999). Beijing: Press of Law Yearbook of China.
Messner, S.F., & Tardiff, K. (1985). The social ecology of urban homicide. Criminology, 23, 241-267.
21.
Miethe, T.D., & Drass, K.A. (1999). Exploring the social context of instrumental and expressive homicides: An application of qualitative comparative analysis. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 15, 1-21.
22.
Miles-Doan, R. (1998). Violence between spouses and intimates: Does the neighborhood context matter? Social Forces, 77, 623-645.
23.
Ministry of Justice. (2002). Crime statistics and analysis. Taipei, Taiwan: Author.
24.
Parker, R.N. (1989). Poverty, subculture of violence, and type of homicide . Social Forces, 67, 983-1007.
25.
Parker, R.N., & Smith, M.D. (1979). Deterrence, poverty and type of homicide. American Journal of Sociology, 85, 614-624.
26.
Petersen, T. (1985). A comment on presenting results from logit and probit models. American Sociological Review, 50, 130-131.
27.
Peterson, R.D., & Krivo, L.J. (1993). Racial segregation and Black urban homicide. Social Forces, 71, 1001-1026.
28.
Riedel, M. (1987). Symposium: Stranger violence: Perspectives, issues and problems. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 78, 223-258.
29.
Sampson, R.J. (1987). Personal violence by strangers: An extension and test of the opportunity model of predatory victimization. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 78, 327-356.
30.
Stack, S., Cao, L., & Adamczyk, A. (2007). Crime volume and law and order culture. Justice Quarterly, 24, 291-308.
31.
Varano, S., & Cancino, J.M. (2001). An empirical analysis of deviant homicides in Chicago. Homicide Studies, 5, 5-29.
32.
Williams, K., & Flewelling, R. (1988). The social production of criminal homicide: A comparative study of disaggregated rates inAmerican cities. American Sociological Review, 53, 421-431.
33.
Wolfgang, M. (1958). Patterns in criminal homicide. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
