Cross-National Evidence on Homicide and the Age Structure of the Population

• NCJ Number: 130055
• Journal: Social Forces Volume: 69 Issue: 2 Dated: (December 1990) Pages: 351-371
• Author(s): R Gartner; R N Parker
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 21 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey (Cross-Cultural)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Earlier versions of this article were presented at the 1988 annual meetings of the American Sociological Association and the 10th International Congress on Criminology.

Annotation

Data is analyzed from 5 nations over 70 years to examine the generalizability of the relationship between trends in the age structure of the population and homicide rates.

Abstract

The time-series analysis of data indicate that trends in the proportion of young males in a population do not exert a consistent influence on homicide rates across time and place. In two nations, Japan and Scotland, age structure is temporally unrelated to homicide rates. These effects, however, are limited to particular time periods. During the post-World War II period, only in Italy and the United States is there the expected strong positive association between age structure and homicide. From these findings it is concluded that the temporal relationship between age structure and homicide rates is more complex -- or perhaps more easily obscured -- than has typically been supposed. Based on similarities in the character of homicide in the U.S. and Italy, a set of conditions under which an age effect is most likely to obtain is suggested. 5 figures, 3 tables, and 52 references (Author abstract modified)