Herjanic M, Meyer D A
Forensic Sci. 1976 Nov-Dec;8(3):235-45. doi: 10.1016/0300-9432(76)90137-0.
Over the past 30 years, there was a slow but steady increase of the homicide rate in the United States. The increase was faster in the urban areas. In St. Louis, Missouri, the rate had increased from 7/100 000 in 1943 to 33/100 000 in 1973. The development of meaningful preventive measures depends upon repeated epidemiologic investigations to determine the changes in patterns of crime to see if our approach to the problem is still adequate to meet the need. The police records of 214 homicide victims in the city of St. Louis during 1973 were examined. Mean age of the victims was 35 years. Eighty-five per cent of them were men and 81% were black. There are 2 distinctly different profiles of homicide victims, "younger" under 30 years old, and "older" 30 years old and over. "Young" victims had a mean age of 21 years. They were more likely to be black, killed after an argument over money or property, or while committing a crime, and killed by a gun. There were more black victims killed by other blacks and the murderer was usually older (mean age 26 years). These homicides were less frequently victim-precipitated, killed by a relative or friend, or while drinking. "Older" victims had a mean age of 49 years. Among them there were more whites, more victim-precipitated and more victims drank prior to their death, while the murderer was usually younger (mean age 35 years).
在过去30年里，美国的凶杀率呈缓慢但持续的上升趋势。城市地区的上升速度更快。在密苏里州的圣路易斯，凶杀率从1943年的7/10万上升到了1973年的33/10万。制定有意义的预防措施取决于反复进行流行病学调查，以确定犯罪模式的变化，看看我们解决该问题的方法是否仍足以满足需求。对圣路易斯市1973年214名凶杀案受害者的警方记录进行了检查。受害者的平均年龄为35岁。其中85%为男性，81%为黑人。有两种截然不同的凶杀案受害者类型，“较年轻”的年龄在30岁以下，“较年长”的年龄在30岁及以上。“年轻”受害者的平均年龄为21岁。他们更有可能是黑人，在因金钱或财产发生争执后被杀，或在犯罪时被杀，且死于枪击。被其他黑人杀害的黑人受害者更多，凶手通常年龄较大（平均年龄26岁）。这些凶杀案中，由受害者引发、被亲属或朋友杀害或在饮酒时被杀的情况较少。“年长”受害者的平均年龄为49岁。其中白人更多，由受害者引发的情况更多，更多受害者在死亡前饮酒，而凶手通常年龄较小（平均年龄35岁）。
