Murder By Design

Homicide is a widely studied phenomenon using various units of analysis, research designs, statistical approaches, and diverse data sources. From the extant literature on this topic, numerous findings emerge that assist in our statistical understanding of homicidal behavior. In particular, one of the most frequent sources of information on homicides is drawn from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which collates and reports Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHRs) from more than 18,000 police agencies annually. As one of the most widely available sources of data, this information often forms the basis for a great deal of what is known about homicide. For example, the most recent Crime in the United States shows that the rate of homicide has declined in recent years to the current rate of 5.6 per 100,000 inhabitants (FBI, 2003). In addition, this publication depicts the demographic composition of homicides in the United States by reporting that homicide victims are...