RT Article
T1 Homicide in Global Extremes: Exploring the Feasibility of EHM-Based Analysis in Finland and South Africa
JF Journal of contemporary criminal justice
VO 40
IS 3
SP 511
OP 531
A1 Kivivuori, Janne
A2 Singh, Shanta Balgobind
A2 Suonpää, Karoliina
A2 Jagganath, Gerelene
A2 Raeste, Anna
A2 Khan, Sultan
A2 Murhula, Patrick Bashizi Bashige
A2 Chetty, Robert
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1892736977
AB Homicide remains a major cause of death globally. The global risk differentials are a persistent public health challenge. Africa’s homicide rate of 13 victims per 100,000 people is markedly higher than the European average (2.2 per 100,000 people). To understand the causes of such large differences, homicide research needs to move from country-level rates to disaggregated analyses in which homicide is broken down by victim, offender, and incident characteristics. We conducted a pilot study in which the European Homicide Monitor (EHM) coding manual is applied to a South African research location and compared to an extreme point in the Global North, Finnish urban areas. We find differential patterns in the two locations. The high-rate context of South Africa manifests a younger offender and victim age structure, a higher share of criminal and revenge motives and the use of firearms, and incidents in public places. In contrast, the comparatively low-rate Finnish context shows a higher relative share of intimate partner violence and familial incidents taking place in private places. The role of alcohol and drugs appears more salient in Finnish urban homicide, a finding calling for replication. We conclude by discussing the methodological challenges revealed by the pilot comparison.
K1 European Homicide Monitor
K1 Feasibility
K1 South Africa
K1 Finland
K1 Comparison
K1 patterns
K1 Homicide
DO 10.1177/10439862241242868