NCJ Number
68474
Date Published
1980
Length
20 pages
Annotation
POPULAR MISCONCEPTION ABOUT THE NATURE AND FREQUENCY OF HOMICIDE, AND THE FEAR ENGENDERED BY THE BELIEF THAT MURDER VICTIMIZATION IS A LIKELY OCCURRENCE FOR A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE, ARE EXPLORED THROUGH PUBLIC FEEDBACK.
Abstract
THE PARTICIPANTS IN A 1980 INTERAGENCY WORKSHOP AT THE SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY IN TEXAS WERE GIVEN A SET OF 50 QUESTIONS ABOUT HOMICIDE, TO BE MARKED AS TRUE OR FALSE. THE RESULTS OF THIS SURVEY ARE GIVEN IN THIS PAPER, WITH THE CORRECT ANSWERS SUPPLIED ON THE BASIS OF DATA AVAILABLE IN THE CURRENT LITERATURE ON HOMICIDE. THE PROJECT WAS INSPIRED BY THE AWARENESS OF WIDESPREAD MISCONCEPTIONS ON HOMICIDE AND MURDER, FOR WHICH MEDIA COVERAGE IS HELD CHIEFLY RESPONSIBLE. AMONG THE MOST SIGNIFICANT REALITIES NOTED ARE THE FOLLOWING: THE LIKELIHOOD OF MURDER VICTIMIZATION FOR THE AVERAGE CITIZEN IS LESS THAN 1:10,000; MURDER IS NOT EXCLUSIVELY AN URBAN (BIG CITY) PHENOMENON; MOST MURDERS ARE COMMITTED WITH GUNS; VICTIM-CRIME PRECIPITATION IS A FREQUENT OCCURRENCE; THE RATE OF CRIME SOLVING BY THE POLICE FOR HOMICIDES AND MURDERS WAS 75% IN 1977. IT IS OBSERVED THAT BLACKS ARE EIGHT TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN WHITES TO BECOME VICTIMS AND/OR PERPETRATORS OF MURDER OR HOMICIDE, BUT THIS TYPE OF CRIME DOES NOT FREQUENTLY CROSS RACE LINES; ELDERLY AMERICANS ARE INCREASINGLY BECOMING VICTIMS OF MURDER; RECIDIVISM RATES FOR MURDER AND/OR HOMICIDE ARE LOWER THAN FOR MOST OTHER CRIMES, SO THAT THIS TYPE OF OFFENDER IS A RELATIVELY GOOD PAROLE RISK; THE DETERRENT EFFECT OF THE DEATH PENALTY ON MURDER HAS NOT BEEN SATISFACTORILY PROVED. A COPY OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE IS APPENDED.