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Correlates of the Victim-Offender Relationship in Homicide

NCJ Number
225362
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 52 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2008 Pages: 658-672
Author(s)
Liqun Cao; Charles Hou; Bu Huang
Date Published
December 2008
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The purpose of this research is to demonstrate more accurate correlates of the different relationship types of homicide and to apply routine activity theory to explain homicide in another culture.
Abstract
The results of the research provide further support for the hypothesis that partitioning of homicides is fruitful in revealing the relationships otherwise obscured. They indicate that both sociodemographic variables and situational variables are important correlates of three different homicide relationships, but their strengths vary based on the particular homicide relationship type. Age and crime premises correlate with homicide differently based on the victim-offender relationship. Premeditation is related to acquaintance homicide but not to intimate homicide. In comparison, previous conviction is associated with intimate homicide but not with acquaintance homicide. Prior research has devoted inadequate attention to the empirical study of the social correlates of different relationship types of homicide at the individual level. This study attempts to extend efforts in a multivariate investigation of the correlates of different relationship types of homicide. The main goal was to examine how sociodemographic factors and situational factors simultaneously affected the probabilities of different relationship types of homicide. In so doing, it is expected to promote the utility of the multivariate logistical model in doing criminological research. The study used a classification of homicides based on the victim-offender relationship, thereby analyzing individual-level data from a local prosecutor’s office in Taiwan. Tables, notes, and references

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