Poverty, Inequality, and the Urban Homicide Rate - Some Unexpected Findings

• NCJ Number: 83229
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 20 Issue: 1 Dated: (May 1982) Pages: 103-114
• Author(s): S F Messner
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 12 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Columbia University
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier version of this article was presented at the 76th Annual Meeting for the American Sociological Association, August 24-28, 1981, Toronto.

Annotation

The purpose of this article is to report findings concerning the relationship between poverty, inequality, and the homicide rate for a sample of 204 SMSAs.

Abstract

A measure of family income inequality exhibits a moderate zero order correlation with the homicide rate, but the effect becomes insignificant in the regression analysis. A second economic measure, that of the size of the poverty population, also exhibits a moderate zero order correlation with the homicide rate, but the partial effect is significant and the sign is quite unexpectedly negative. Additional unexpected results include strong partial effects for measures of Southern regional and racial composition. These findings suggest the need for reconsideration of the role of economic and perhaps subcultural factors in the explanation of urban homicide. (Publisher abstract)