Circumstance Elements

Uses

These data elements characterize the precipitants of violent deaths and help to identify trends in subtypes of violence over time. They will aid in planning and evaluating prevention programs targeted at specific subtypes of violence.

Discussion

Hate – A crime of aggravated assault, arson, burglary, criminal homicide, motor vehicle theft, robbery, sexual assault, or crime involving bodily injury in which the victim was intentionally selected because of their actual or perceived race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability. Specify the type of hate crime in the Incident Narrative.

Brawl – Persons were involved in a mutual, physical fight. The brawl may or may not escalate to involve weapons. Do not code Brawl if the attack was one-sided (e.g., a group beats a single victim to death).

Terror – The victim was injured in a terrorist attack, whether with conventional, chemical, biological, or other weapons. This would include those who died while assisting in rescue operations from the attack. The NVDRS uses the FBI definition of terrorism: