Based on prior research, this study developed three competing perspectives about the frequency of "crime booms" among nations in the post-World War II period. A constructionist perspective (Fishman, 1978; Hall et al., 1978; and Kappeler et al., 1996) suggests that crime booms are socially constructed and that true booms are rare or nonexistent. A modernization perspective (Inkeles and Smith, 1974; Neuman and Berger, 1988; Shelley, 1981) asserts that crime booms are specialized results of the rapid social change experienced by nations that are in transition from traditional to modern forms of organization. A globalization perspective (Gurr, 1989; Gurr et al,. 1977; and Fukuyama, 1999) suggests that global changes since World War II have made national crime booms a nearly universal phenomenon. The current study used annual homicide victimization data for the 34 nations over the years of the study period to test these 3 perspectives. The results provide considerable support for the modernization perspective; i.e., crime booms in the postwar period were most common in industrializing nations in the sample; however, modernization perspectives cannot explain why some industrialized nations had crime booms and some industrializing nations did not. 3 tables, 4 figures, 86 references, and appended classification of homicide trends as unit root or stationary, 1956 to 1998