Cross-National Patterns of Lethal Violence (From The Currents of Lethal Violence: An Integrated Model of Suicide and Homicide, P 117-143, 1994, N. Prabha Unnithan, Lin Huff-Corzine, et al. -- See NCJ-192567)

• NCJ Number: 192573
• Author(s): N. Prabha Unnithan; Lin Huff-Corzine; Hugh P. Whitt
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: State University of New York Press
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter examines the effect of inequality and economic development on lethal violence measures -- suicide and homicide rates, the lethal violence rate (LVR) and the suicide-homicide ratio (SHR) -- in the cross-national context.

Abstract

The intent of the analyses presented in this chapter is to demonstrate the theoretical relevance of the integrated model and the stream analogy in macrosociological analyses of suicide and homicide, while at the same time maintaining a degree of continuity with literature that examines homicide and suicide rates separately. The chapter begins by assessing what is known about the relationships of inequality and development to suicide and homicide, and then the authors discuss the expected impact on the LVR and the SHR. The derived hypotheses are then tested by using multivariate analyses of a data set for 88 nations. The analysis established that suicide rates increase with development independently of inequality, but once inequality is controlled, the inverse relationship between homicide and economic development disappears. The study also found that suicide rates decreased and homicide rates increased with inequality, independent of economic development. The relationship between development and suicide was curvilinear, with a generally increasing curve, independent of inequality. Also, the relationship between suicide and inequality was curvilinear, with a generally decreasing curve, independent of development. The findings thus indicate that the total amount of lethal violence is generally unrelated to either economic development or inequality; as inequality increases, lethal violence is more likely to be directed against external targets than toward oneself; and the greater the economic development, the greater the probability that lethal violence will be turned against the self as suicide. The authors conclude that overall, studies in the tradition of the integrated model have established the cross-national relevance of the stream analogy in understanding lethal violence by showing that a model based on inequality and economic development can be used to predict whether violence will take the form of suicide or homicide. It is less clear whether these variables affect the total amount of violence in societies. 7 tables