Homicide Trends: Uncovering Spatial and Temporal Patterns Comparing U.S. and Canadian Rates.

Research continues to focus on homicide trends in the United States, especially the period of time from the late 1980s through the mid 1990s. This period of time has been labeled an epidemic period both because of the severity and speed of the increase. The leading explanation for this homicide rate increase focuses on the introduction and diffusion of crack cocaine and the accompanying increase in the diffusion of handguns (Blumstein 1995). The Canadian national trend followed a pattern that is very similar to the U.S. However, Canada did not experience the same kind of crack associated violence or diffusion of handguns. This project tests the efficacy of conclusions drawn from research on U.S. homicide trends for explaining Canadian homicide trends. Both the geographical distribution and temporal patterns are analyzed using province-level homicide data. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]