Familial and Other Relationships in Criminal Homicide in North Carolina

• NCJ Number: 89731
• Journal: Journal of Family Issues Volume: 3 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1982) Pages: 301-318
• Author(s): S Palmer; J A Humphrey
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. This article was presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, New York, August 1980.

Annotation

While the rate of criminal homicide in North Carolina is decreasing, the proportion of homicides involving offenders and victims who are members of the same family is increasing, and the proportion involving strangers is decreasing.

Abstract

This paper presents analyses of 985 criminal homicide offenders and their victims in North Carolina. Typical patterns of intrafamilial homicide are compared with extrafamilial killings. The most usual victims of intrafamilial murder and their offenders are identified, and the relationships between offenders and victims are analyzed by age, sex, and race. Data were obtained from the North Carolina Department of Corrections' files and the North Carolina Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Data show that when females kill, they are especially likely to victimize members of their families, especially their husbands; this pattern is increasing. When younger offenders commit homicide, they are increasingly prone to kill family members. Blacks are also showing a considerably greater tendency to kill members of their own families than are whites. Study data, 1 note, and 21 references are supplied. (Author abstract modified)