NCJ Number
64435
Journal
RASSEGNA DI CRIMINOLOGIA Volume: 6 Issue: 1-2 Dated: (1975) Pages: 9-34
Date Published
1975
Length
26 pages
Annotation
SOME OF THE CHIEF PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY CRIMINOLOGISTS USING INTERNATIONAL HOMICIDE STATISTICS ARE UNIQUE TO CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS; THIS CAN BE ILLUSTRATED WITH STATISTICS FROM VARIOUS COUNTIES.
Abstract
THE PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN COMPARING HOMICIDE STATISTICS COMPILED IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES ARE DIFFERENCES IN DEFINING HOMICIDE (AS SHOWN, AMONG OTHERS, BY THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZATION STATISTICS); THE INCOMPLETENESS OF HOMICIDE STATISTICS IN PRACTICALLY ALL COUNTRIES (BECAUSE ONLY THE NUMBER OF HOMICIDE CASES ACTUALLY RESULTING IN CONVICTIONS REACH INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS); AND THE CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA USED IN COMPILING HOMICIDE STATISTICS (SOME COUNTRIES PRESENT STATISTICAL DATA REFLECTING THE NUMBERS AND DESCRIPTIVE VARIABLES OF VICTIMS, RATHER THAN THOSE OF OFFENDERS). THE LATTER PROBLEM COULD BE SOLVED BY COMPILING STATISTICS IN TERMS OF VICTIMS, INCIDENTS, AND OFFENDERS, THUS ALLOWING THE USER A MEASURE OF SELECTION. IN GENERAL, TO SATISFY THE NEEDS OF ALL USERS OF INTERNATIONAL HOMICIDE STATISTICS, A GUIDE SHOULD BE PROVIDED TO THE CRIMINAL CODE PROVISIONS RELATING TO HOMICIDE IN THE VARIOUS COUNTRIES, AND ALL STATISTICS SHOULD BE COMPILED USING THE SAME CLASSIFICATION UNITS AND REFERRING TO TERMS CLEARLY DEFINED BY UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED, STANDARD SCOPE NOTES. NUMEROUS STATISTICAL TABLES ARE INCLUDED IN THE TEXT AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS APPENDED. (LGR)