In American Homicide, Randolph Roth charts changes in the character and incidence of homicide in the U.S. from colonial times to the present. Roth argues that the United States is distinctive in its level of violence among unrelated adults—friends, acquaintances, and strangers. America was extraordinarily homicidal in the mid-seventeenth century, but it became relatively non-homicidal by the mid-eighteenth century, even in the slave South; and by the early nineteenth century, rates in the North and the mountain South were extremely low. But the homicide rate rose substantially among unrelated adults in the slave South after the American Revolution; and it skyrocketed across the United States from the late 1840s through the mid-1870s, while rates in most other Western nations held steady or fell. That surge—and all subsequent increases in the homicide rate—correlated closely with four distinct phenomena: political instability; a loss of government legitimacy; a loss of fellow-feeling among members of society caused by racial, religious, or political antagonism; and a loss of faith in the social hierarchy. Those four factors, Roth argues, best explain why homicide rates have gone up and down in the United States and in other Western nations over the past four centuries, and why the United States is today the most homicidal affluent nation.

From the assassination of President William McKinley on September 6, 1901, to the mass killing at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, the 20th century saw many murderous events that are difficult to contemplate but have become a part of the national history. This reference book is divided into three parts. Part One, arranged chronologically, details 53 of the most famous murder cases of the 20th century in the United States. In Part Two, over 300 entries (alphabetically arranged by criminal) provide descriptions of crimes and are subdivided into male, female, and juvenile murderers; pair and group murderers; hate crime murderers; and school killings. Part Three features crime events related to over 40 selected victims. Cross references guide the reader to additional information. An index is included.

A study of criminal homicide in America from precolonial times to the present, drawing on accounts of witnesses, official documents, physical remains, and private papers to reconstruct representative cases of the past and look for broader trends. Investigates why murder rates go up or down at different periods, how the justice system has dealt with murder, and the roles of economic difference, family structure, and media, seeking to explain why postindustrial America has the highest murder rate in the developed world. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This revised and updated edition of Murder in America presents a pragmatic examination of both common and unusual acts of homicide in the United States.

The Global Study on Homicide 2013 is based on comprehensive data from more than 200 countries/territories, and examines and analyses patterns and trends in homicide at the global, regional, national and sub-national levels. Such analysis is fundamental to understanding the various factors and dynamics that drive homicide, so that measures can be developed to reduce violent crime. The Study provides a typology of homicide, including homicide related to crime, coexistence-related homicide, and socio-political homicide. The nature of crime in several countries emerging from conflict, the role of various mechanisms in killing, and the response of the criminal justice system to homicide are also analyzed. A further chapter examines homicide at the sub-national level, and includes analysis at the city-level for selected global cities.

"he Murder Book offers broader and deeper coverage of the theoretical explanations for homicide than competitors. Discussions of the extraordinary murders featured in the popular texts on the market are included while providing a more extensive and realistic view of homicide by also examining the more ordinary homicides that occur every day. Unlike existing texts, The Murder Book also present details about how homicide cases are worked and how they are dealt with in the courts, thus providing a more complete treatment of homicide than is currently available, appealing to those who want a broader and mare rigorous academic treatment of homicide that goes beyond what students learn through popular media presentations on murder"--