This study investigates the circannual pattern of U.S. child homicide rates. Analyses of 23,067 child homicide records extracted from 1976 to 1998 FBI Supplemental Homicide Reports reveal a winter peak for infants and toddlers (age less than 2 years) and a summer peak for primary and middle school children (ages 5 to 14). Logistic regressions find distinct risk factors for the two peaks that support the prevailing developmental risk theory. The risk factors suggest guidelines for a more rational allocation of prevention resources both across the year and among different developmental subpopulations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Cheatwood, D.
(1988). Is there a season for homicide?Criminology, 26, 287-306.
2.
Cheatwood, D.
(1995). The effects of weather on homicide. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 11, 51-70.
3.
Chew, K. S. Y.
, & McCleary, R. (1994). A life course theory of suicide risk. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 24, 234-244.
4.
Chew, K. S. Y.
, & McCleary, R. (1995). The Spring peak in suicide: A cross-national analysis. Social Science and Medicine, 40, 223-230.
5.
Chew, K. S. Y.
, & McCleary, R. (1996). The seasonality of suicide: A world survey. Current Issues in Public Health, 2, 241-246.
6.
Chew, K. S. Y.
, McCleary, R., Lew, M., & Wang, J. (1999). The epidemiology of child homicide: California, 1981-90. Homicide Studies, 3, 151-169.
7.
Christoffel, K. K.
, Anzinger, M. K., & Amari, M. (1983). Homicide in childhood: Distinguishable patterns of risk related to developmental levels of victims. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 4, 129-137.
8.
Cohn, E. G.
(1990). Weather and crime. British Journal of Criminology, 30, 51-64.
9.
Durkheim, E.
(1951). Suicide. New York: Free Press. (Original work published 1897)
10.
Fingerhut, L. A.
, Annest, J. L., Baker, S. P., Kochanek, K. D., & McLoughlin, E. (1996). Injury mortality among children and teenagers in the United States, 1993. Injury Prevention, 2, 93-94.
11.
Finkelhor, D.
(1997). The homicides of children and youth: A developmental perspective. In C. Kaufman Kantor & L. Jasinski, (Eds.), Out of the darkness: Contemporary perspectives on family violence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
12.
Fox, J. A.
(2000). Uniform crime reports: Supplementary homicide reports,1976-1998. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.
13.
Kevan, S. M.
(1979). Season of life—season of death. Social Science and Medicine, 13D, 227-232.
14.
Kunz, J.
& Bahr, S. J. (1996). A profile of parental homicide against children. Journal of Family Violence, 11, 347-362.
15.
MacKellar, F. L.
, & Yanagashita, M. (1995). Homicide in the United States: Who’s at risk?Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau.
16.
MacDorman, M. F.
, & Rosenberg, H. M. (1993). Trends in infant mortality by cause of death and other characteristics, 1960-88. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 20: Data from the National Vital Statistics System (No. 20). Washington, DC: National Center for Health Statistics.
17.
Mausner, J. S.
, & Kramer, S. (1985). Epidemiology: An introductory text (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.
18.
National Center for Health Statistics
. (1996). Multiple cause-of-death public-use data files, 1983-1994. Tabulations by the authors.
19.
Riedel, M.
(1990). Nationwide homicide data sets: An evaluation of the Uniform Crime Reports and the National Center for Health Statistics data. In D. L. Mackenzie, P. J. Baunach, & R. R. Roberg (Eds.), Measuring crime: Large-scale, long-range efforts. (pp. 175-205). Albany: State University of New York Press.
20.
Sakamoto-Momiyama, M.
(1978). Changes in the seasonality of human mortality: A medico-geographical study. Social Science and Medicine, 12, 29-42.
21.
Smithey, M.
(1998). Infant homicide: Victim/offender relationship and causes of death. Journal of Family Violence, 13, 285-297.
22.
U. S. Bureau of the Census
. (1985). Statistical abstract of the United States: 1986 (106th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
