Structural Sources of Urban Female Violence in the United States: A Macrosocial Gender-Disaggregated Analysis of Adult and Juvenile Homicide Offending Rates

• NCJ Number: 182515
• Journal: Homicide Studies Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2000 Pages: 107-134
• Author(s): Darrell Steffensmeier; Dana L. Haynie
• Date Published: May 2000
• Length: 28 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

An analysis of homicides committed by females focused on their relationships with sociodemographic factors and differences between male and female murderers with respect to these relationships.

Abstract

The study departed from previous macrolevel research on homicide, which targeted either total homicide rates of male homicide offending rates. The present research disaggregated the homicide rate across cities by gender and age, examined the effects of structural disadvantage variables on the homicide offending rates of adult women and juvenile females, and compared the effects of the structural variables on females’ homicide rates with those for adult males and juvenile males. Results revealed that structural disadvantage robustly affected female as well as male rates of homicide for adults. In contrast, the effects among juveniles were large for adolescent males but much smaller for females in that structural disadvantage only weakly influenced their homicide offending rates. Findings indicated that the contexts of homicide among juvenile females are less shaped by adverse economic conditions and conditions of social disorganization than is the case among the other age and gender subgroups. Tables, notes, and 66 references (Author abstract modified)