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Prior research on crime hot spots has been mostly concerned with the analyses of cross-sectional data or short-term aggregations. Less research, however, has conducted longitudinal analyses on homicide hot spots and their dynamic behavior over time. The current study assessed 5 years of Chicago homicides (2016–2020) by police beats to explore how hot spots of homicides behave, with specific attention to durability. We find that Chicago homicides spatially and temporally cluster, with analysis suggesting the emergence of seasonal, short term, and long term "durable" hotspots in Chicago. Policy implications such as police interventions and community policing and problem-solving opportunities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviewing national literature on homicides in Brazil, this article explores questions that relate to the nature, trends, determinants, and impact of these crimes on society, as well as interventions to combat this type of violence. The article contributes to the international literature by reviewing and critically discussing a sample of 112 theses on homicides from the Portuguese-language literature using the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations from 2000 to 2020. Highlighting an issue that primarily affects young, poor Black men, the article helps advocate for a better understanding of other types of lethal violence that affect women, LGBQTI and other minorities. The article calls for a better understanding of the role of the state, the police and other criminal justice actors as generators and/or controllers of violence, as well as the need for other perspectives on homicide prevention, which include the microsituational aspects of killing, organized crime, and interaction between the individual and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homicide is a preventable public health issue that has detrimental effects on both victims and witnesses and increases health care costs. From 2006 to 2015, homicide has been the second leading cause of death for youth aged 15 to 24 years in the United States. Educational attainment has been widely regarded as a protective factor against justice system involvement and violent injury. We conducted a time-trend analysis examining educational attainment levels for male victims of homicide aged 18 to 24 years in the City of Chicago, 2006 to 2015, to describe the educational attainment of youth homicide victims in Chicago. We used data from the Illinois Violent Death Reporting System and the United States Census Bureau from 2006 to 2015. Cases included male victims of homicide, 18 to 24 years of age, the injury leading to death occurred in the City of Chicago, injury leading to death occurred between 2006 and 2015, and whether or not a high school degree or equivalent had been obtained. Data were described over time using percentages and rates per 100,000 with 95% confidence intervals. Chicago male homicide victims aged 18 to 24 years were less likely to have at least a high school degree than the general population of males aged 18 to 24 years in Chicago. The homicide rate for males aged 18 to 24 years without a high school degree was significantly higher than those with a high school degree or equivalent for every time point, except 2007, and also in four of the seven Chicago Planning Regions when compared with the other three. We found there is a concentrated risk pool for undereducated male youth in Chicago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We build on literature from policy and academic circles to assess whether Latin America is leading when it comes to persistence in homicides. The focus is on a global sample of 163 countries for the period 2010 to 2015. The empirical evidence is based on generalized method of moments. The following main finding is established. The region with the highest evidence of persistence in homicides is sub-Saharan Africa, followed by Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and then by Europe and Central Asia. In order to increase room for policy implications, the data set is decomposed into income levels, religious domination, landlockedness, and legal origins. From the conditioning information set, the following factors account for persistence in global homicides: crime, political instability, and weapons import positively affect homicides whereas the number of "security and police officers" has the opposite effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes a total of 255 interviews with inmates in Mexico City prisons, all of whom were prosecuted for killing someone else (first-degree murder). A comparison is made between two groups of incarcerated murderers: men and women. Our aim is to illustrate and explain how gender interacts with other social groups in the composition of lethal violence in Mexico City, one of the largest cities in Latin America. Research findings suggest that, in Mexico City, women are more likely to use lethal violence against young victims, usually family members, and in closed spaces, especially at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to discuss the trends and nature of rural violence in Brazil. Assuming the hypothesis of an increase in violence rates, urban–rural violence rates are compared at three geographical levels: national (Brazil), state (São Paulo), and municipal (Rio Claro). The study combines the analyses of official statistics with newspaper reports, videos, and articles published by the national media. Findings indicate an increase in violence in rural areas in recent decades but such a rise is far from homogenous across the country; it shows links to patterns of population change, economic expansion, and organized crime. Although violence has long being an inherent characteristic of rural Brazil—a place of conflicts and struggles—it is argued here that the more recent rise in violence is distinct from the past, at least in its portrayal by the media. The article finalizes by suggesting a research agenda to improve the understanding of the dynamics of violence in the Brazilian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies in crime concentrations have focused primarily on North America with a rather restrictive set of crime types. In this article, we analyze the crime concentrations and spatial patterns of homicide in Recife, Brazil. Brazil's homicide rates have remained stable but at high levels, approximately 30 homicides per 100,000. Some places have experienced notable decreases in homicide: In Recife, the capital of Pernambuco, there has been a drop in the homicide rate of 46.67%, 2000 to 2012. We analyzed the decline of homicides finding that it continues to be highly concentrated, but the decrease has not been uniform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored differences in intimate partner homicides (IPHs) among Asian Americans. Data from newspapers and femicide reports by different state coalitions on 125 intimate partner killings occurring between 2000 and 2005 were analyzed. Men were the perpetrators in nearly 9 out of 10 cases of Asian IPHs. Gender differences were found in ages of victims and perpetrators, types of relationship between partners, and methods of killing. Most homicides occurred among South-east Asians, and East Asians had the highest within-group proportion of suicides. The findings call for culturally competent risk assessment and intervention strategies to prevent IPHs among at-risk Asian Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Observed changes in subcategories of injury death were used to test the hypothesis that a sizeable proportion of "injury deaths of undetermined intent" (Y10-Y34 in ICD 10) in the Baltic and Slavic countries after the USSR dissolved in 1991 were hidden suicides. Methods: Using male age-adjusted suicide rates for two distinctly different periods, 1981-90 and 1992-2005, changes, ratios and correlations were calculated. The data were compared with the EU average. Results: After the USSR broke up, the obligation to make a definitive diagnosis became less strict. A massive increase in "injury deaths of undetermined intent" resulted. The mean rate for the second period reached 52.8 per 100,000 males in Russia (the highest rate) and 12.9 in Lithuania (the lowest), against 3.2 in EU-15. The rise from the first to the second period was highest in Belarus (56%) and Russia (44%). The number of injury deaths of undetermined intent was almost equal to that of suicides in Russia in 2005 (ratio 1.0) and Ukraine in 2002 (1.1). In all the countries, especially the Slavic ones, prevalence trends of injury-death subcategories were uniform, i.e. strongly correlated over time. No direct substitution of one diagnosis for another was evident. Conclusions: There is no evidence that the category of "injury deaths of undetermined intent" in the Baltic and Slavic countries hides suicides alone. Aggregate level analysis indicates that accidents and homicides could sometimes be diagnosed as undetermined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of the revitalization of low-income, public housing properties on homicide patterns. It tracks the movement of homicide clusters from the initial properties to those neighborhoods where public housing residents were displaced over a 19-year period in Louisville, Kentucky. The median-income level of residents and vacant housing emerged as important predictors of homicide clusters. This article concludes that low-income public housing and Section 8 housing properties provide an environment where homicides are likely to occur. This pattern remained in effect even when the nature of public housing changed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1999, Texas was the first of 47 states to pass a Safe Haven law allowing for the anonymous surrender of unwanted newborns at designated locations. However, state agencies do not systematically collect data on the number of illegally abandoned infants and infants legally surrendered under the law. Using the LexisNexis database of Texas newspapers, this study estimated the number of illegally abandoned and legally surrendered newborns younger than age 60 days in Texas, 1996 to 2006 and describes their demographic characteristics. Of 93 infants (53% male) identified during the study period, 82 were illegally abandoned (70% found alive) and 11 were legally surrendered. On average, 7.5 (range: 4-16) infants were illegally abandoned each year, with the greatest number found in 1999. Infants continued to be illegally abandoned following passage of the Safe Haven law. A statewide surveillance system should be implemented to evaluate this important public health problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the general acceptance of individuals' or communities' right to kill under certain circumstances in the Latin American culture. Most Latin American countries have no death penalty, but some people have a positive attitude toward the right to kill in these countries. It was said that their support for the right to kill aims to defend one's family.

Research on race-specific homicide rates has paid insufficient attention to the issue of data quality. This article compares the two main sources of race-specific homicide rates: the FBI Age, Sex, and Race Record Cards (ASR) and the FBI Uniform Crime Report Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR),focusing primarily on Black homicide rates. Probably the most important finding of this research is that ASR and SHR race-specific homicide rates cannot both be valid indicators of Black homicide rates in cities. Further analysis suggests that SHR data probably more often provide a valid indicator of overall or race- specific offender homicide rates than do ASR data. Analysis indicates SHR data must be properly examined and screened of they are to provide a valid indicator of race-specific homicide data. This research addresses problems with SHR race-specific homicide data, including outright errors, cases where the race of the offender is unknown, and multiple offender and victim cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]