Poverty, Subculture of Violence, and Type of Homicide

• NCJ Number: 119955
• Journal: Social Forces Volume: 67 Issue: 4 Dated: (June 1989) Pages: 983-1007
• Author(s): R N Parker
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 25 pages
• Grant Number(s): 82-IJ-CX-0047
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)

Annotation

Recent research on the causes of homicides has led to two competing theoretically derived models, one which stresses the importance of socioeconomic conditions, and one which emphasizes the influence of a subculture of violence.

Abstract

In addition to reviewing these models and recent empirical studies, this article presents and discusses several theoretically derived hypotheses relating types of homicides as classified by the victim/offender relationship. Analysis indicates the importance of such specification issues as aggregation and measurement in evaluating earlier research, the primacy of the socioeconomic model for understanding causes of homicide, and the need to further classify homicide in order to differentiate potential subcultural effects from socioeconomic effects. Further methodological and statistical research on the subcultural approach is recommended. 2 tables, 8 endnotes, 75 references. (Author abstract modified)