Three major patterns emerge from the epidemiologic data: (1) a certain proportion of the population is at risk of dying of a violent death, but the type of violent death is dependent on one's age, race, and sex; (2) societal factors, such as economy, war, and population shifts, can account for the upswings and downswings in trends of suicide, homicide, and accidents; and (3) within each specific type of violent death (with the exception of suicide), the age patterns are usually similar regardless of sex and race considerations. Self-destructive tendencies and violent deaths are related, with suicides, homicides, and motor-vehicle accidents, in particular, having epidemiologic patterns that are very similar over time. Consequently, these mortality rates can be predicted for specific age groups on the basis of the population shifts of those groups. 12 tables and figures, 94 references, appendix, index.