The study of homicide in North America has been limited by its focus on U.S. data and cross-sectional analyses, as well as a lack of consideration of alcohol in homicide causation. European research has been more dynamic, dealing extensively with the alcohol and violence relationship, but these studies also have limited generalizability. A cross-national dynamic analysis of homicide victimization by gender is reported here as an extension and replication of Gartner's theoretical model of homicide, with alcohol-related concepts integrated into this model. Results based on the analysis of 17 nationstates for the period 1950-1980 provide evidence that two aspects of alcohol-related behavior, consumption rates and the drinking culture, produce interaction effects with divorce rates that are strongly predictive of homicide victimization. However, gender differences are in the nature of these interactions. The importance of these results for homicide causation and violence prevention policy are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abel, E. L.
(1987). Drugs and homicide in Erie County, New York. International Journal of the Addictions, 22, 195-200.
2.
Archer, D.
, & Gartner, R. (1984). Violence and crime in cross-national perspective. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
3.
Armyr, G.
, Ake, E., & Herz, U. (1982). Alcohol in the world of the '80s: Habits, attitudes, preventive policies, and voluntary efforts. Stockholm: Sober Forglas, AB.
4.
Bachman, R.
(1994). Violence and theft in the workplace: National Crime Victimization Survey (BJS report no. NCJ-148199). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
5.
Bailey, W. C.
(1990). Murder, capital punishment, and television: Execution publicity and homicide rates. American Sociological Review, 55, 628-633.
6.
Bailey, W. C.
, & Peterson, R. D. (1989). Murder and capital punishment: A monthly time-series analysis of execution publicity. American Sociological Review, 54, 722-743.
7.
Balkwell, J. W.
(1990). Ethnic inequality and the rate of homicide. Social Forces, 69, 53-70.
8.
Bandura, A.
(1973). Aggression: A social learning analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
9.
Block, C. R.
(1987). Homicide in Chicago. Chicago: Loyola University Center for Urban Policy.
10.
Bowers, W. J.
(1984). Legal homicide. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
11.
Browne, A.
, & Williams, K. R. (1989). Exploring the effect of resource availability and the likelihood of female-perpetrated homicides. Law and Society Review, 23, 75-94.
12.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
. (1994). Criminal victimization in the United States, 1992 (Report No. NCJ-145125). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
13.
Cohen, L. E.
, & Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activities approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588607.
14.
Cohen, L. E.
, Kluegal, J., & Land, K. (1981). Social inequality and predatory criminal victimization: An exposition and test of a formal theory. American Sociological Review, 46, 505-524.
15.
Collins, J. J. Jr.
(1981). Alcohol use and criminal behavior: An empirical, theoretical, and methodological overview. In J. J. Collins Jr. (Ed.), Drinking and crime (pp. 288-316). New York: Guilford.
16.
Comstock, G.
(1975). Television and human behavior: The key studies. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.
17.
DeFronzo, J.
(1983). Economic assistance to impoverished Americans: Relationship to incidence of crime. Criminology, 21, 19-36.
18.
DeFronzo, J.
, & Hannon, L. (1998). Welfare assistance levels and homicide rates. Homicide Studies, 2, 31-45.
19.
Fagan, J.
(1990). Intoxication and aggression. In M. Torny & J. Q. Wilson (Eds.), Drugs and crime: Vol. 13. Crime and justice: A review of research (pp. 241-320). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
20.
Fendrich, M.
, Mackesy-Amiti, M. E., Goldstein, P., Spunt, B., & Brownstein, H. (1995). Substance involvement among juvenile murderers: Comparisons with older offenders based on interviews with prison inmates. International Journal of the Addictions, 30, 1363-1382.
21.
Fiala, R.
, & LaFree, G. (1988). Cross-national determinants of child homicide. American Sociological Review, 53, 432-445.
22.
Garriott, J. C.
(1993). Drug use among homicide victims: Changing patterns. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 14, 234-237.
23.
Gartner, R.
(1990). The victims of homicide: A temporal and cross-national comparison. American Sociological Review, 55, 92-106.
24.
Goldstein P.
, Brownstein, H. H., & Ryan, P. J. (1992). Drug-related homicide in New York: 1984 and 1988. Crime and Delinquency, 38, 459-476.
25.
Hansen, H.J.P.
(1985). Criminal homicide in Greenland. Arctic Medical Research, 40, 61-64.
26.
Hindelang, M.
, Gottfredson, M., & Garofalo, J. (1978). Victims of personal crime: An empirical foundation for a theory of personal victimization. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
27.
International Labour Office
. (1977). Labour force: 1950-2000. Geneva: Author.
28.
Johnston, J.
(1972). Econometric methods. New York: McGraw-Hill.
29.
Kohn, M. L.
(1987). Cross-national research as an analytic strategy. American Sociological Review, 52, 713-731.
30.
Krahn, H.
, Hartnagel, T. F., & Gartrell, J. W. (1986). Income inequality and homicide rates: Cross-national data and criminological theories. Criminology, 24, 269-295.
31.
Kratcoski, P. C.
(1990). Circumstances surrounding homicides by older offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 17, 420-430.
32.
Landau, S. F.
, & Pfefferman, D. (1988). A time-series analysis of violent crime and its relation to prolonged states of warfare: The Israeli case. Criminology, 26, 489-504.
33.
Lenke, L.
(1982). Alcohol and crimes of violence: A causal analysis. Contemporary Drug Problems, 11, 355-366.
34.
Lenke, L.
(1987, June). Alcohol and crimes of violence in France and Sweden: A comparative time series analysis. Paper presented at the International Conference on Alcohol Abuse, Aix-en-Provence.
35.
Lenke, L.
(1990). Alcohol and criminal violence: Time series analyses in a comparative perspective. Stockholm: Almquist & Wiskell.
36.
Lindqvist, P.
(1986). Criminal homicide in northern Sweden 1970-1981: Alcohol intoxication, alcohol abuse, and mental disease. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 8, 19-37.
37.
Loftin, C.
, & Hill, R. H. (1974). Regional subculture and homicide. American Sociological Review, 39, 714-724.
38.
Maddala, G. S.
(1971). The use of variance components models in pooling cross section and time series data. Econometrica, 39, 341-358.
39.
Makela, K.
, Room, R., Single, E., Sulkunen, P., & Walsh, B. (1981). Alcohol, society, and the state. Toronto, Canada: Addiction Research Foundation.
40.
McDowall, D.
, McCleary, R., Meidinger, E. E., & Hay, R. Jr. (1980). Interrupted time series analysis. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
41.
Messner, S. F.
(1982). Poverty, inequality, and the urban homicide rate: Some unexpected results. Criminology, 20, 103-114.
42.
Messner, S. F.
(1983). Regional differences in the economic correlates of the urban homicide rates: Some evidence on the importance of context. Criminology, 21, 477-488.
43.
Messner, S. F.
(1989). Economic discrimination and societal homicide rates: Further evidence on the cost of inequality. American Sociological Review, 54, 597-611.
44.
Messner, S. F.
, & Tardiff, K. (1986). Economic inequality and levels of homicide: An analysis of urban neighborhoods. Criminology, 24, 297-318.
45.
Miethe, T. D.
, Stafford, M. C., & Long, J. S. (1987). Social differentiation in criminal victimization: A test of routine activity theory. American Sociological Review, 52, 184-194.
46.
Mundlak, Y.
(1978). On the pooling of time series and cross section data. Econometrica, 46, 69-85.
47.
Parker, R. N.
(1989). Poverty, subculture of violence, and type of homicide. Social Forces, 67, 983-1007.
48.
Parker, R. N.
(1993). Alcohol and theories of homicide. In F. Adler & R. Friedman (Eds.), Advances in criminological theory (Vol. 4, pp. 114-132). Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Press.
49.
Parker, R. N.
(1995). Bringing “booze” back in: The relationship between alcohol and homicide. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 32, 3-38.
50.
Parker, R. N.
, & Auerhahn, K. (in press). Alcohol, drugs, and violence. In J. Hagan (Ed.), Annual review of sociology (Vol. 24). Palo Alto, CA: Annual Review Press.
51.
Parker, R. N.
, & Rebhun, L. N. (1995). Alcohol and homicide: A deadly combination of two American traditions. Albany: SUNY Press.
52.
Parker, R. N.
, & Smith, M. D. (1979). Deterrence, poverty, and type of homicide. American Journal of Sociology, 85, 614-624.
53.
Parker, R. N.
, & Toth, A. M. (1990). Family, intimacy, and homicide: A macro-social approach. Violence and Victims, 5, 195-210.
54.
Pernanen, K.
(1981). Theoretical aspects of the relationship between alcohol use and crime. In J. J. Collins, Jr. (Ed.), Drinking and crime (pp. 1-69). New York: Guilford.
55.
Pernanen, K.
(1991). Alcohol in human violence. New York: Guilford.
56.
Produktschap voor Gedistilleerde Dranken
. (1988). Hoeveel alkoholhoudende dranken worden er in de wereld gedronken?Amsterdam: Centraal Bureau voor Courantenpubliciteit.
57.
Room, R.
(1972). Relations between ethnic and cross-national comparisons. Drinking and Drug Practices Surveyor, 5, 12.
58.
Room, R.
(1976). Ambivalence as a sociological explanation: The case of cultural explanations of alcohol problems. American Sociological Review, 41, 1047-1065.
59.
Room, R.
(1989, September). Responses to alcohol-related problems in an international perspective: Characterizing and explaining cultural wetness and dryness. Paper presented at La ricera Italiana sulle bevande alcoiche nel confronto internazionale, Santo Stefano Belbo, Italy.
60.
Sampson, R. J.
(1986). Neighborhood family structure and the risk of personal victimization. In J. M. Byrne & R. J. Sampson (Eds.), The social ecology of crime (pp. 25-46). New York: Springer-Verlag.
61.
Sampson, R. J.
(1987). Urban African American violence: The effect of male joblessness and family disruption. American Journal of Sociology, 93, 348382.
62.
Sampson, R. J.
, & Wooldredge, J. D. (1987). Linking the micro- and macro- level dimensions of lifestyle, routine activity, and opportunity models of predatory victimization. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 3, 371-393.
63.
Silverman, R. A.
, & Kennedy, L. W. (1987). Relational distance and homicide: The role of the stranger. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 78, 272-308.
64.
Skog, O.
(1986). Trends in alcohol consumption and violent deaths. British Journal of Addiction, 81, 365-379.
65.
Small, M.
, & Singer, J. D. (1981). Resort to arms: International and civil war, 1816-1980. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
66.
Smart, R. G.
, & Mann, R. E. (1987). Large decreases in alcohol-related problems following a slight decrease in alcohol consumption in Ontario 1975-83. British Journal of Addiction, 82, 285-291.
67.
Spunt, B.
, Brownstein, H., Goldstein, P., Fendrich, M., & Liberty, H. J. (1995). Drug use by homicide offenders. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 27, 125-134.
68.
Spunt, B.
, Goldstein, P., Brownstein, H. H., Fendrich, M., & Langley, S. (1994). Alcohol and homicide: Interviews with prison inmates. Journal of Drug Issues, 24, 143-163.
69.
Stets, J. E.
(1990). Verbal and physical aggression in marriage. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 501-514.
70.
Stimson, J. A.
(1985). Regression in space and time: A statistical essay. American Journal of Political Science, 29, 915-947.
71.
Tardiff, K.
, Marzuk, P. M., Leon, A. C., Hirsch, H., Stajik, M., Portera, L., & Hartwell, N. (1995). Cocaine, opiates, and ethanol in homicides in New York City: 1990 and 1991. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 40, 387-390.
72.
Taylor, C. L.
, & Hudson, M. (1972). World handbook of political and social indicators. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
73.
Treno, A. J.
, Parker, R. N., & Holder, H. D. (1992). Understanding U.S. alcohol consumption with social and economic factors: A multivariate time series analysis, 1950-86. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 54, 146-157.
74.
United Nations
. (1951-1981). Demographic yearbook. New York: Author.
75.
United Nations
. (1985, April 26). Social development questions: Capital punishment (Report No. 85-12176 of the Economic and Social Council). New York: Author.
76.
U.S. Department of Labor
. (1997). National census of fatal occupational injuries, 1996. Washington, DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
77.
Weatherby, N. L.
, Nam, C. B., & Isaac, L. W. (1983). Development, inequality, heath care, and mortality at older ages: A cross-national analysis. Demography, 20, 27-43.
78.
Welte, J. W.
, & Abel, E. L. (1989). Homicide: Drinking by the victim. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 50, 197-201.
79.
Wieczorek, W.
, Welte, J., & Abel, E. (1990). Alcohol, drugs, and murder: A study of convicted homicide offenders. Journal of Criminal Justice, 18, 217-227.
80.
Wilbanks, W.
(1984). Murder in Miami. Lantham, MD: University Press of America.
81.
Williams, K. R.
(1984). Economic sources of homicide: Reestimating the effects of poverty and inequality. American Sociological Review, 49, 283-289.
82.
Williams, K. R.
, & Flewelling, R. L. (1988). The social production of criminal homicide: A comparative study of disaggregated rates in American cities. American Sociological Review, 53, 421-431.
83.
Wolfgang, M. E.
(1958). Patterns in criminal homicide. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
84.
World Heath Organization
. (1951-1981). World health statistics annual: Vital statistics and causes of death. Geneva: Author.
