The Sociological Correlation with Homicide in the United States - Essay Example

Homicide This assignment will discuss the sociological correlation with homicide in the U.S. Specifically the assignment will discuss how gender, race, age and socio-economic class affect the likelihood that an individual will commit murder. Most of the sources used in this assignment are the reports from government agencies which clearly chow that males are more likely to commit murder then females. Also it is mentioned in the assignment that the age group of 18 to 34 is most likely to commit a murder. The objective of this report is to study these trends and discuss if there is a clear correlation between the murder rates and sociological factors. Homicide Correlation with Gender Most of the individuals who commit murder are males. In 2005, the males were ten times more likely to commit murder than females (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). Since 1976, the male individuals have been very dominant in committing murder and in 1980s and 1990s the males were 20 times more likely to commit murder than females. Since the early 1980s, the offending rates of the females declined and became constant after 1999 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). In 1976, the homicide rate for male offences began at 16.3 per 100,000 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007) of population which remained constant till the next year. The rate increased to 20.6 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007) in the early 1980s and then fell to around 15 percent in 1985. These statistics for males and females offence rates are summarized in Figure 1. Figure 1-(Source: U.S. Dept of Justice, 2007) The biggest reason for the male dominance in homicide offence is that the males are largely involved in drug abuse and overuse of alcohol. When these individuals are drunk or drugged, their ability to make decisions is diminished and the risk of committing crime increases. Killing done by men, which related to drugs accounted to almost 95% offences while for females, it was only around 5% (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). This shows the correlation between drugged men and homicide is very high. Gang wars and gang related offences are big contributors to homicide. The victims of gang related homicides are 95% males and the offenders are about 98 percent (U.S. Department of Justice 2007), which shows us that most of the individuals who are part of gangs are males. Males are more likely than females to step into arguments with their neighbors, acquaintances and even strangers. Males are also more likely to become revengeful and lose temper than women. This causes them to take revenge from the victims in the form of murder. Therefore we can see a clear and strong correlation between homicide and a specific sex. As we discussed earlier, according to the trends since 1976, the males are ten times more likely to commit murder than the females. Homicide Correlation with Race A lot of racial indifferences in trends of murder by race exist. If we see the pattern of homicide by race, then we can easily deduce that African Americans represent most of the homicide victims and also offenders. Offending rates for the black population of America were as high as 7 times the rates for the whites. The correlation between the two races and homicide rates for the period between 1976 and 2005 is represented in Figure 2. Figure 2-(Source: U.S. Dept of Justice, 2007) The homicide rate for the whites in 1976 began at 4.9 and then in 1980 rose to 6.4 per 100,000 of population (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). The rate then decreased till 2002 and fell to 3.5 in 2005 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). In contrast, the homicide offending rate for the blacks began at 46.6 in 1976 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007) and then it varied in the range of 33 and 52 per 100,000 of black population in the period of 1977 and 2003 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). In 2004, the rate fell to about 24 in 2004 and rose again to 26.5 in 2005. For the races other than black and white, the offending rate of homicide commenced at 4.6 in the year 1976. In 1978, the rate fell to 3.8 before it rose and reached 7.0 in 1980 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). In 2005, the offending homicide rate for the other race was 2.8 per 100,000 of population. African Americans are living in ghetto neighborhoods and they are mostly involved in the crimes such as drugs involvement, drug abuse, gum smuggling and gang wars. This is the prime factor that the homicide offence rate of the black is 7 times higher than that of the whites. Therefore there is a clear relationship and a positive strong correlation between the race and homicide offence rate. Hence the blacks are more likely to commit murder than any other race in the U.S. The reasons for this higher rate of disparity in homicide rates between races are the disproportionate distribution of income and racism that most of the institutions and individuals are a part of. Homicide Correlation with Age In the U.S., young adults have the maximum homicide offending rates and there is a high correlation between the age of a person and homicide offences. Most of the homicide offences committed are by young adults who are in the age bracket of 18 to 24 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). Young people have been contributing to a rise in homicide rate whereas the contribution by older people has been decreasing (Blumstein 1998). In the 1980s, the offending rates for young population in the age bracket 14 and 24 dramatically rose. But this was not the case with the population of older age bracket as it declined. Homicide offence rates for the children under the age of 14 years rose till the 1990s and then decreased to reach the minimum in 2003 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). The juveniles between the age of 18 and 24 have always had the highest offending rate since a long period of time and it is still valid. The offending rates for homicide for this age bracket nearly doubled from 1985 to 1993. The homicide offending rates since then have declined for the juveniles of age 18 to 24 but still have been the highest contributors to the overall homicide rate. Figure 3-(Source: U.S. Dept of Justice, 2007) The homicide offending rates for the teenage group of 14 to 17 years of age increased at a rapid pace after 1985 and till 2000 the rate was above the offending rate of population with age bracket 25 to 34 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). However, in 2004, the offending rate for age bracket 14 to 17 reached the minimum level below that of 25 to 34 offending rate. The mean age of homicide offenders fell from about 30 to 26 years of age since 1976 to 1994 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). For the population aged 18 to 24, the homicide offending rate initiated at around 22 in 1976 and then remained constant for a year. The offending rate then rose to 30 per 100,000 of population for the age bracket 18 to 24 in 1980. The rate fell down in 1984 and remained constant at 22 till 1985 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). In 1993, the rate climbed to 42.8 per 100,000 of population and then decreased to 27 in 2005. Homicide Correlation with Socio-Economic Class The lowest homicide offence rates are attributed to upper socio-economic class while the lower socio-economic class has the most offence rate of homicide. Decline in the homicide rates in the period of 1992 to 1998 was attributed to economic expansion that was being witnessed at that time (Blumstein 1998). More people were employed as unemployment rates dropped to a point that was not observed since the early years of 1970’s (Blumstein 1998). The main reason for the drop in homicide offences was that the gains from economic expansion were shared by all the races, sexes and of all the age groups. Long term unemployment leads to poverty which results in frustration and motivation to get involved in crimes such as stealing and working for gangs (Janicak 2003). This further leads to homicide offences getting increased. The people in the lower socio-economic class have more issues in life and are more likely to get involved in crimes such as robberies, burglaries, involvement in drug business and stealing. When the people are involved in such criminal activities, they are most likely to murder someone. People in higher or middle socio-economic class are less likely to get involved in criminal activities which are listed above. Hence they have lower chances to get involved in homicide offences. The lower socio-economic class suffers great depressions and many forms of frustrations. This class is more likely to get drugged and consume alcohol more than the limits in U.S. Therefore there is a high correlation between socio-economic class and homicide offences as the lower socio-economic class is more likely to get involved in homicide offences than the other groups in higher socio-economic class. Bibliography Blumstein, A. Et al. "Explaining Recent Trends in U.S. Homicide Rates." The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 1998: 1175. Janicak, A. C. Conpensation and Working Conditions. November 24, 2003. http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/sh20031119ar01p1.htm (accessed December 2, 2009). U.S. Department of Justice. "Homicide Trends in the U.S." Bureau of Justice Statistics. July 11, 2007. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/gender.htm (accessed December 1, 2009). Read More