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Comparative Patterns in Life Course Victimization: Competition, Social Rivalry, and Predatory Tactics in Child Homicide in the United States

NCJ Number
197651
Journal
Homicide Studies Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2002 Pages: 325-347
Author(s)
Wayne D. Lord; Monique C. Boudreaux; John P. Jarvis; Jerry Waldvogel; Hal Weeks
Date Published
November 2002
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Child homicide crime patterns are discussed in this article, focusing on child homicide as a life course process of victimization.
Abstract
Causes of child homicide are addressed in this article, suggesting the importance of examining child homicide as a life course process of victimization. After arguing that despite much current research examining child abuse and neglect studies addressing child homicide are scant, the authors contend that child homicide incidence is bimodal, peaking in early childhood and late adolescence. Suggesting that younger children tend to fall victim to parents, guardians, and other caregivers, the authors asserts that child homicide patterns do not correspond to an even geographic distribution and are ethnically disproportionate with minority children accounting for 48 percent of child homicides. This article proposes that through the life course of a child, there are developmentally linked homicide risks that are mediated by demographic and geographic factors. Focusing on competition, infanticide, parental investment, independence, mobility, extrafamilial socialization, adolescence, sexual maturation, and the pursuit of individual fitness, the authors maintain that behavioral changes and circumstances in juvenile growth and development, childhood socialization, and social competition affect child homicide rates. According to the authors, the dynamics of physical, cognitive, and social growth and development, throughout the life course of a child, influence the likelihood of a child falling victim to violence. This article concludes that child homicide is a complex societal problem that can be better understood by considering child homicide as a successional life course process of victimization. Figures, notes, references

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