NCJ Number
48273
Journal
JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW, CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE Volume: 59 Issue: 4 Dated: (1968) Pages: 499-508
Date Published
1968
Length
10 pages
Annotation
IN A REPLICATION OF WOLFGANG'S (1958) STUDY OF CRIMINAL HOMICIDE PATTERNS IN PHILADELPHIA, POLICE DATA ON ALL CRIMINAL HOMICIDE FILINGS DURING 1965 IN THE URBAN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AREA WERE ASSESSED.
Abstract
DURING THE STUDY PERIOD, 395 CASES INVOLVING 395 VICTIMS AND 429 OFFENDERS WERE FILED. INFORMATION WAS AVAILABLE FOR 394 VICTIMS AND 415 OFFENDERS. OF THE VICTIMS, 77.9 PERCENT WERE NONWHITE AS WERE 78.6 PERCENT OF THE OFFENDERS. MALES WERE DISPROPORTIONATELY REPRESENTED; 73.6 PERCENT OF ALL VICTIMS AND 83.1 PERCENT OF ALL OFFENDERS WERE MALE. NONWHITE MALES COMPRISED 56.6 PERCENT OF ALL VICTIMS COMPARED TO 21.3, 17.0, AND 5.1 PERCENT OF NONWHITE FEMALES, WHITE MALES, AND WHITE FEMALES RESPECTIVELY, SIMILARLY, 63.8 PERCENT OF ALL OFFENDERS WERE NONWHITE MALES AS COMPARED TO 14.7 PERCENT NONWHITE FEMALE. 19.3 PERCENT WHITE MALE AND 2.2 PERCENT WHITE FEMALE OFFENDERS. DISTRIBUTION BY AGE OF BOTH OFFENDERS AND VICTIMS IDICATES AN EXTENSIVE INVOLVEMENT BY YOUNG PEOPLE IN CRIMINAL HOMICIDE: 52.3 PERCENT OF THE WHITE 44.5 PERCENT OF THE NONWHITE OFFENDERS WERE IN THE 15 TO 29 AGE RANGE, WITH MALE OFFENDERS TENDING TO BE SLIGHTLY OLDER ON THE AVERAGE THAN FEMALE OFFENDERS. WHILE THERE IS CONSIDERABLE SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE AGES OF THE OFFENDERS AND THE VICTIMS, WHITE MALES OVER 40 YEARS OLD WERE DISPROPORTIONATELY REPRESENTED IN THE VICTIM CATEGORY. ONLY 6.6 PERCENT OF THE HOMICIDES WERE INTERRACIAL, WITH 80 PERCENT OF THESE INVOLVING A BLACK OFFENDER AND A WHITE VICTIM. CRIMINAL HOMICIDE BETWEEN THE SEXES IS MORE COMMON AND ACCOUNTS FOR 39.6 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL. FEMALES WERE THE VICTIMS IN 61.3 PERCENT OF THESE CASES, AND 49.3 PERCENT INVOLVED THE SLAYING OF A NONWHITE FEMALE BY A NONWHITE MALE. OF THE VICTIMS, 49.5 PERCENT WERE SHOT, 27.9 PERCENT WERE STABBED, 14.7 PERCENT WERE BEATEN, AND 7.9 PERCENT WERE SLAIN BY OTHER MEANS. NO SIGNIFICANT SEASONAL PATTERNS IN HOMICIDE RATES WERE OBSERVED. HOMICIDES WERE MOST FREQUENT IN AUGUST, APRIL, JULY, AND DECEMBER RESPECTIVELY. HOMICIDES OCCURRED MOST FREQUENTLY BETWEEN 8:00 P.M. AND MIDNIGHT AND ON WEEK ENDS. MORE CRIMINAL HOMICIDES OCCURED IN THE HOME THAN IN ANY OTHER LOCATION FOR BOTH WHITES AND NONWHITES. INTOXICANTS WERE PRESENT IN THE HOMICIDAL SITUATION IN 53.3 PERCENT OF THE CASES: INTOXICANTS WERE SLIGHTLY MORE FREQUENTLY PRESENT IN HOMICIDES INVOLVING NONWHITES. ALTERCATIONS, ROBBERY, AND GANG FIGHTS WERE THE MOST COMMON MOTIVES. A LARGE PROPORTION OF THE VICTIMS WERE SLAIN BY A FAMILY MEMBER OR A CLOSE FRIEND. OF 311 CASES FOR WHICH SUFFICIENT INFORMATION WAS AVAILABLE, 118 (37.9 PERCENT) COULD BE CLASSIFIED AS VICTIM-PRECIPITATED. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PRESENT FINDINGS AND WOLFGANG'S FINDINGS ON CRIMINAL HOMICIDE IN PHILADELPHIA BETWEEN 1948 AND 1952 INCLUSIVE ARE OCCASIONALLY NOTED. (JAP)