The many faces of homicide

The study of why people kill other people is vital from a policy perspective, as without such knowledge it is very difficult to implement appropriate strategies and policies for the prevention and reduction of homicide. A number of homicide types can be identified on the basis of elements such as premeditation, motivation, context, instrumentality and perpetrator-victim relationship, which all play roles of varying magnitudes in different forms of homicide. That said, developing homicide typologies is a complex business, not least because they sometimes overlap and, in real life, homicide drivers can be multiple. Indeed, further research and methodological work is needed to help develop a comprehensive categorization of homicide, but some of its typologies, which are particularly relevant from the crime prevention perspective, can already be identified in the following manner

Related Subject(s): Drugs Crime and Terrorism