Why murders are committed

Manuel Eisner, a criminology professor at the University of Cambridge, and his colleagues published the Historical Violence Database : a compilation of data on long-term trends in homicide rates, in addition to qualitative information such as the cause of death, perpetrator and victim. This database is limited to countries with relatively complete historical records on violence and crime — mainly Western Europe and the US. Starting in the second half of the nineteenth century, these European regions have consistent police records of those accused of murder or manslaughter and annual counts of homicide victims.

To go back further in time, reaching as far back as the thirteenth century, Eisner collected estimates from historical records of coroner reports, court trials, and the police of homicide rates made in over ninety publications by scholars. These estimates have been combined, from onwards, with homicide rates from the Global Burden of Disease study. In the s, homicide rates in Western Europe ranged from 23 to 56 homicides per , individuals, comparable to the current rates in Latin America.

Homicide rates then fell dramatically in all five regions from the s to s. Homicide rates in Europe today are much lower than in the past. England, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy reached their lowest levels in the s; while the Netherlands, Belgium, and Scandinavia reached their minimums in the mid to late s. Related chart — long-term trends in homicides across the world. This chart presents longer-term data on homicide rates across countries. The visualization here shows the annual number of deaths from homicide, differentiated by age bracket.

Most victims globally are younger than 50 years old. The map here shows homicide rates for children years old, country by country.

As can be seen, there are huge regional differences. In , the homicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean was almost five times higher than the global average. In the best cases the data on homicides rely on vital statistics or criminal justice sources. This is often the case for more affluent countries. But for some countries and some periods such data is unfortunately lacking or incomplete and in these cases the data providers rely on statistical modeling to produce estimates.

These estimates of the homicide rates for a particular country or for particular age groups are produced by relying on available relevant measures — for example the observed homicide data from similar countries or available data for a particular region within the country — and a statistical model.

To understand the serious limitations of the data for some countries it is advisable to refer to the publication by Kanis et al. The table — taken from Kanis et al. It is possible to move the time slider and see how the discrepancy of estimates changed over time. There are two very different sources for historical data on homicide rates depending on the era discussed.

For the last few decades, statistical offices have recorded homicide rates as part of the vital statistics. For earlier historical periods, researchers have reconstructed the long-term changes in homicide rates from historical records that often originated from some form of legal documentation of the crimes. Although there are gaps in the reconstructed data, and there are uncertainties in both the number of homicides and the size of the population, the historical record is more complete than one might assume.

One reason for this is the great social importance of these crimes. Violent killings were of concern for a long time, and they were therefore often reliably registered. In some cases, or for prehistoric times, it is additionally possible to use the insights from forensic archaeologists, who can determine the causes of death from skeletal remains. In addition to homicide rates for many countries this database also includes qualitative information — among much more information also on the place and the cause of death and on the victim and the perpetrator.

The website can be found here: Historical Violence Database. Homicide rates vary widely across the world — in the most violent countries, rates are more than 50 times higher. In many countries there has been a long — term decline in homicide rates. Most victims of homicide are younger than 50 years old. In some countries, homicide is one of the leading causes of death. More than , people die from homicide each year.

Click to open interactive version. Homicide is a leading cause of death in young adults. The global distribution of homicides.

Read more.. This booklet summarizes the content of the five subsequent substantive booklets by reviewing their key findings and highlighting a set of policy implications derived from the analyses presented in them.

This booklet constitutes the second part of the Global Study on Homicide It provides an overview of intentional homicide counts, rates and trends. Starting at the global level, the analysis turns to regional, subregional and national trends before the focus shifts to the subnational picture of homicide in selected locations where such data are available and patterns can be identified.

Urban homicide patterns and urban homicide trends are examined as are the demographics of homicide victims and the sex of homicide perpetrators. The booklet ends with an overview of the criminal justice response to homicide. In-depth contributions by external experts feature throughout the booklet. Constituting the third part of the Global Study on Homicide , this booklet provides an overview of the drivers of homicide and looks at the different typologies and mechanisms of homicide perpetration.

The drivers of homicide are manifold and have to do with a number of factors: socioeconomic and environmental conditions, governance and the rule of law, political stability, demographics, and cultural stereotypes particularly in relation to gender roles. Homicidal violence is also influenced by the availability of mechanisms such as firearms or sharp objects, and by the use and trafficking of psychoactive substances.

The links between homicide and socioeconomic and environmental factors, along with the ways in which these factors may drive homicide or contribute to its containment, are analysed in booklet 4, which focuses on the interactions between homicide and development. Constituting the fourth part of the Global Study on Homicide , this booklet starts by examining the relationship between homicidal violence and level of development with reference to the Sustainable Development Goals.

A macroanalysis of the extent to which homicide rates can be explained by national levels of development is then presented. The analysis is based on a set of models that incorporate the latest available homicide data and were designed to take into account the social and economic factors most strongly correlated with homicide rates across countries.

Comparing the homicide rate predicted on the basis of a country's level of development with the actual homicide rate reported by that country helps to clarify how effective development policies can be instrumental in reducing homicidal violence.

Constituting the fifth part of the Global Study on Homicide ,this booklet gives an overview of the scope of gender-related killing of women and girls. It provides in-depth analysis of killings perpetrated within the family sphere and examines forms of gender-related killings perpetrated outside the family sphere, such as the killing of women in conflict and the killing of female sex workers. It also looks at the characteristics of the perpetrators of intimate partner killings, the link between lethal and non-lethal violence against women, and the criminal justice response.

Violence against children is a multidimensional phenomenon that is often underreported; it can take many forms and is influenced by a wide range of factors, such as the personal characteristics of the victim and perpetrator and their cultural and physical environments.

Such violence remains hidden in many instances because children are often afraid to report acts of aggression, and also because reporting mechanisms tend to be inaccessible or even non-existent.

Children may also keep silent about the violence they suffer when it is perpetrated by parents and other family members, or by another figure of authority such as an employer, community leader or police officer. Lethal violence against children can occur in a continuum of violence, representing the culmination of various forms of violence that children may be subjected to in different settings. One of the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions is to "end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children".

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