NCJ Number
196251
Journal
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: Spring 2002 Pages: 52-64
Date Published
2002
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study used data from the Homicides in Chicago, 1965-1995 study to determine the characteristics of defensive homicide offenders and how they compared with felony murder victims and typical homicide offenders.
Abstract
"Defensive homicide offenders" were defined as those who used lethal violence in response to predatory attacks in defense of themselves. In the study analyzed, there were 23,819 homicide victims and 26,032 offenders implicated for these crimes in Chicago between 1965 and 1995. A total of 169 individuals were arrested for killing their attackers, with 7 defending against arson, 28 defending against burglary, 6 defending against rape, and 128 defending against robbery. The age distribution for defensive homicide offenders apparently coincided most closely with the age distribution for typical homicide offenders, with both tending to be young. People who fought back against predatory attacks had more in common with typical homicide offenders than felony murder victims. A total of 80.3 percent of defensive homicides were committed by Blacks, 11.6 percent by whites, and 8.1 percent by Hispanics. Approximately 10 percent of all defensive homicide offenders had criminal records, compared to about 14 percent for all other offenders and 19.6 percent of victims. What is striking, however, is that defensive homicide offenders were much more likely (60 percent) to have a prior violent record than other homicide offenders and felony murder victims. Implications are drawn from these findings for future research. References, tables