NCJ Number
110323
Journal
Criminology Volume: 24 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1986) Pages: 319-330
Date Published
1986
Length
12 pages
Annotation
One theoretical explanation for the consistently high Southern homicide rates is that the South constitutes a 'regional culture of violence.'
Abstract
Although this perspective has not garnered much empirical support, sound theoretical alternatives have not emerged. The present study attempts to fill this gap by suggesting that emergency medical services are an overlooked intervening influence in the production of homicide and aggravated battery rates. Analysis of data from the 67 counties in Florida provides some support for the notion that the differential distribution of medical resources is partially responsible for variation in criminally induced lethality rates. (Publisher abstract)