Blackwell Reference Online

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Unlike other western nations, thousands of people are murdered in the United States every year. Any large American city displays almost as many homicides as do many western nations ( Beeghley 2003 ). A high rate of homicide – the intentional and illegal killing of another human being – makes the US anomalous. Historically, homicide rates across Western Europe fell in a ragged but steady way from about 20–30 per 100,000 in the fourteenth century to around 1 per 100,000 in the nineteenth century. Although the data must be pieced together and the use of ranges (for example, 20–30) for past estimates suggests some uncertainty, the long-term process is clear ( Gurr 1989 ). The average homicide rate in England and Wales was less than 1 per 100,000 throughout the twentieth century ( Beeghley 2003 ). Other Western European nations exhibit similar rates. By comparison, the US has always displayed much more violence ( Adler 2005 ). In the twentieth century, the average US homicide rate was 7.6 per 100,000 ( Beeghley 2003 ). Nationwide, about 16,000 persons were murdered in 2001 – a relatively low number, as homicide rates declined at the end of the century. The US rate in 2001, however, was 5.6 per 100,000, compared to only 1.6 in England and Wales. There were 648 murders in Chicago in 2002, 587 in New York, and 654 in Los Angeles – which were low compared to just a few years ago, and interpreted ... log in or subscribe to read full text