NAVAJO CRIMINAL HOMICIDE

• NCJ Number: 64173
• Journal: SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY Volume: 25 Dated: (1969) Pages: 124-152
• Author(s): J E LEVY; S J KUNITZ; M EVERETT
• Date Published: 1969
• Length: 29 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH-14053101
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Corporate Author: University of New Mexico Press
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THEORIES OF HOMICIDE AMONG THE NAVAJO AND ITS RELATION TO ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND CULTURAL FACTORS ARE EXAMINED AND TESTED IN AN ANALYSIS OF NAVAJO HOMICIDE PATTERNS FOR THE PERIOD 1956 TO 1965.

Abstract

COMMON THEORIES ON THE NAVAJO HAVE ASSUMED THAT THEIR HOMICIDE RATE WOULD BE PROPORTIONATELY HIGHER THAN THAT FOR THE REST OF THE POPULATION BECAUSE OF INCREASED ALCOHOL USE, THE INSTABILITY OF NAVAJO MARRIAGE, AND THE STRESSES PLACED ON MALES AS THEY ABANDON TRADITIONAL ROLES AND ENTER A WAGE ECONOMY. FROM THE FILES OF THE NAVAJO POLICE IN WINDOW ROCK, ARIZ, 43 CASES OF CRIMINAL HOMICIDE COMMITTED BETWEEN 1956 AND 1965 WERE EXTRACTED FOR STUDY, ALL OF WHICH INVOLVED NAVAJOS ON OR NEAR THE RESERVATION. THESE CASES WERE COMPARED WITH A STUDY OF CRIMINAL HOMICIDE IN PHILADELPHIA BETWEEN 1948 AND 1952. IT WAS FOUND THAT NAVAJO HOMICIDE RATES WERE STABLE AND COMPARABLE WITH THOSE OF THE GENERAL POPULATION. EVIDENCE DID NOT SUGGEST THAT RATES WERE HIGHER IN 1965 THAN PRIOR TO WORLD WAR II. FUTHERMORE, NO RELATIONSHIP WAS DISCOVERED BETWEEN HOMICIDE AND ALCOHOL, ALTHOUGH USE OF THE LATTER HAD INCREASED STEADILY. THESE FINDINGS CONTRASTED WITH THOSE OF THE PHILADELPHIA PROJECT IN WHICH USE OF ALCOHOL WAS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH VIOLENCE. THE NAVAJO OFFENDER WAS TYPICALLY A MARRIED MALE BETWEEN 35 AND 39 YEARS OLD WHO HAD KILLED HIS WIFE AS A RESULT OF SEXUAL JEALOUSY OR A DOMESTIC QUARREL. A VERY HIGH PROPORTION COMMITTED SUICIDE AFTER THE ACT OF HOMICIDE. THE HOMICIDE/SUICIDE PATTERNS REFLECT THE TRADITIONAL EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY OF THE NAVAJO MALE AS WELL AS HIS CURRENT SOCIAL PROBLEMS. THEORIES ON THE IMPACT OF CULTURAL CHANGE AND ECONOMIC DEPRIVATION ON HOMICIDE WOULD BE SERVED BETTER BY STUDYING NAVAJOS WHO HAVE EMIGRATED FROM THE RESERVATION. ALTHOUGH THE STUDY MAY SUPPORT THE THEORY THAT INDIAN ARREST RATES, ESPECIALLY THOSE INVOLVING ALCOHOL, ARE HIGH, IT ALSO INDICATES THAT NAVAJO RATES FOR CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS OR PROPERTY MAY BE LOW. A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS PROVIDED. (MJM)