Homicide-suicide in the United States, 1968-1975.

This paper describes for the first time the epidemiology of homicide-suicide events in the whole of the United States using archival data. From 1968 to 1975, there were 2215 homicide-suicide events out of 123,467 homicides. The mean rate of homicide-suicide events was 0.134 per 100,000 per year. The murderers in these events differ from the typical murderer and the typical suicide in socio-demographic characteristics. Details of the characteristics of this population may be valuable for understanding the circumstances of homicide-suicide events and planning preventive measures.

Mean ages of homicide victims and victims of homicide-suicide.

Using Riedel and Zahn's 1994 reformatted version of an FBI database, the mean age of homicide victims in 2,175 homicide-suicides (4,350 deaths) was compared with that of all other victims of homicides reported for the USA from 1968 to 1975. The overall mean age of homicide victims in homicide-suicides was 1 yr. greater than for victims of homicides not followed by suicides, whereas the mean age for both male and female homicide-suicide victims was, respectively, 3 yr. less and greater than the other homicide victims. The mean age of Black homicide victims of homicide-suicides was 2.4 yr. less than that for Black victims of other homicides, whereas the means for Black and White male homicide victims in homicide-suicides were, respectively, about 4 and 5 yr. less than for victims of other homicides. Also, the mean age of White female homicide victims in homicide-suicides was more than two years greater than for female victims of homicides not followed by suicides. When both sex and race were considered, the mean age for those killed in homicide-suicides relative to those killed in homicides not followed by suicides may represent subpopulations with different mean ages of victims.

Use of age-adjusted rates of suicide in time series studies in Israel.

Durkheim's modified theory of suicide was examined to explore how consistent it was in predicting Israeli rates of suicide from 1965 to 1997 when using age-adjusted rates rather than crude ones. In this time-series study, Israeli male and female rates of suicide increased and decreased, respectively, between 1965 and 1997. Conforming to Durkheim's modified theory, the Israeli male rate of suicide was lower in years when rates of marriage and birth are higher, while rates of suicide are higher in years when rates of divorce are higher, the opposite to that of Israeli women. The corrected regression coefficients suggest that the Israeli female rate of suicide remained lower in years when rate of divorce is higher, again the opposite suggested by Durkheim's modified theory. These results may indicate that divorce affects the mental health of Israeli women as suggested by their lower rate of suicide. Perhaps the "multiple roles held by Israeli females creates suicidogenic stress" and divorce provides some sense of stress relief, mentally speaking. The results were not as consistent with predictions suggested by Durkheim's modified theory of suicide as were rates from the United States for the same period nor were they consistent with rates based on "crude" suicide data. Thus, using age-adjusted rates of suicide had an influence on the prediction of the Israeli rate of suicide during this period.

Comment on Zekeri (2007).

Zekeri's comments (2007) on Bridges and Kunselman's work (2005) were not sufficiently grounded in sociological theory, the calculation of the "rates of potential years of life lost" (PYLL) was modified but unreported, and the use of PYLL, despite limitations as a measure of premature mortality "was not justified." The theoretical framework, however, consisted of "environmental" and "social group" statements which gave a specific means for grounding "premature mortality" in sociological theory, and findings were consistent with Lester's social deviancy theory of suicide (1989). How the "rates of PYLL" were calculated, i.e., by the Canadian government is misinterpreted, although Allard, et al. (2004) provided justification for the use of age-standardized rates of PYLL in their 2005 study.

Social integration and suicide in the Western Pacific Islands.

In the Western Pacific Islands, the rate of suicide was more common in those islands with faster growing populations, but not among the islands with larger total populations or with greater population densities. This offers partial support for some of the propositions of Durkheim and Lester.

Body Mass Index, suicide, and homicide among inhabitants of the Caribbean Islands.

To test the hypothesis that the more overweight and obese a nation, as measured by Body Mass Index, the greater the risk of suicide; mean scores of Body Mass Index for males and females over 15 years of age in 11 Caribbean Islands were not associated with either male or female rates of suicide or homicide with one exception, i.e., when controlling for gross domestic product per capita, mean Body Mass Indices for males were significantly and negatively associated with male rate of homicide.

Seasonal changes in suicide in the United States, 1971 to 2000.

The seasonality of suicides in the USA increased from the 1970s to the 1990s. A significant proportion of suicide variation due to the seasonal component has been reported. Noted increments in seasonal rhythms in the latter part of the 1980s and 1990s seem to support those of Warren, et al. but contradict the conclusions of diminishing drawn by Hakko, et al., Rhimer, et al., and Yip, et al.

Correlations for alcohol use, abuse, and treatment with suicide and homicide across 21 nations.

In this study which followed Lester's work of 1998 and 2001 for 27 nations of the world, membership in Alcoholics Anonymous, but not alcohol consumption or cirrhosis mortality as measures of alcohol use, abuse, and treatment, correlated with homicide but not suicide rates. Changes in Alcoholics Anonymous membership were not associated with changes in age-adjusted rates of homicide or suicide.

Premature mortality due to suicide, homicide, and motor vehicle accidents in health service delivery areas: comparison of status Indians in British Columbia, Canada, with all other residents.

From each of 15 health regions, potential years of life lost (PYLL) before age 75 for Status Indians is compared for select causes of death with all other residents. Mortality data from 1991 to 2001 for rates of PYLL (standardized to the 1991 population) are from tables of the British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency and First Nations and Inuit Health Branch in 2002. PYLL rate differences and rate ratios were compared for two groups with significance of the former indicated by the 95% confidence interval. Overall, the rates of PYLL for suicide, homicide, and deaths due to motor vehicle accidents were about 224%, 340%, and 248% higher among Status Indians than all other residents. Rates of PYLL for homicide and deaths from motor vehicle accidents among Status Indian women exceeded those of other residents who were men. For suicide, Status Indian men ranked first and all other male residents of British Columbia ranked second.

Use of the same and a longer time series to replicate David Lester's study of suicide and birth rates in Canada.

This is a replication of Lester's work (2000) using the time series 1970-1990 to study associations between age-standardized rates of suicide and crude birth rates in the 10 Canadian provinces were also examined between 1961 and 1999.

Gun control law (Bill C-17), suicide, and homicide in Canada.

Canadian Bill C-17 was implemented in 1991 to restrict the use of firearms, providing a chance to investigate the effect of firearm control laws in the use of firearms for suicide and homicide. Following Lester and Leenaars' comprehensive studies, the present study examined the use of firearms for suicide and homicide during the period prior to the bill and during the period after the passing of Bill C-17 to assess the association of the bill with rates of suicide and homicide by method. Analysis showed a significant decrease after passage of Bill C-17 in the rates of suicides and homicides involving firearms and the percentage of suicides using firearms. The analysis provides support for the position that restricting the availability of firearms as a lethal means of committing suicide and homicide may help reduce the numbers of suicides and homicides.

Gun availability and use of guns for suicide, homicide, and murder in Canada.

A reliability check of Lester's (2000b) 1970-1995 time series that examined associations between the availability of firearms and their use for homicide and suicide in Canada. For the period 1974 to 1999, the relative availability of firearms as measured by the rate of accidental death from firearms and the average of the percentages of suicides + homicides using firearms was positively associated with the rate of homicide by firearms but not negatively associated with the rate of homicide by all other methods, and positively associated with the rate of suicide by firearms and negatively associated with the rate of suicide by all other methods. Correlations for the homicide versus murder rates, homicide rate using guns versus murder rate using guns, and homicide rate by all other methods versus murder rate by all other methods were very similar. There was a decrease over time of total suicide and homicide rates and firearm suicide and homicide rates, and with a slight indication of substitution of other methods for suicide.

Rates of homicide and suicide on major national holidays.

Rates of U.S. homicides and suicides during 1972-1979 were higher on 7 major national holidays except one for homicides and were lower for suicides, except New Year's Day as Lester noted for 1972-1979.

Age-adjusted rates of suicide and homicide and fluoride.

Using state data from 1992 and 2000 instead of 1975, the author both confirmed and extended Lester's 1987 study. Like Lester's study, the present replication showed for 1992 (but not 2000) that the more people drinking fluoridated water, the lower the rates of crude and age-adjusted suicide (partial rs: -.25 and -.25, respectively). Crude and age-adjusted rates of homicide in 1992 and 2000 did not change with the fluoridation of public water. Effective interpretation requires more study.

Legalized gambling and crime in Canada.

In the 10 provinces and 2 territories of Canada in 2000, but not in 1990, the total number of types of gambling activities was positively associated with rates of robbery (p<.05). Controls for other social variables did not eliminate these associations. With so many correlations in the present study the likelihood of a Type I error was quite large. Alpha was adjusted to control that likelihood. Statistical analysis now required even stronger evidence before concluding that there were significant relationships between crime and gambling variables or among gambling variables. In the 10 provinces of Canada in 1999/2000, the total numbers of electronic gambling machines for each province was associated with rates of theft over $5000 (p<.01). In 1990 there were positive associations found for burglary with off-track betting and race/sportsbooks; motor vehicle theft with off-track betting, and race/sportsbooks; rate of theft with casinos; quarter horse racing with thoroughbred racing. In 2000 there were positive associations for robbery with casinos and slot machines; casinos with slot machines; scratch tickets with raffles, break-open tickets, sports tickets, and charitable bingo; raffles with break-open tickets, sports tickets, and charitable bingo; break-open tickets with sports tickets; charitable bingo with break-open tickets and sports tickets.

Suicide and homicide in rural areas of California.

Analysis of 1989-1998 age-adjusted death rates from personal violence in California did not show significantly different suicide and homicide rates in rural counties. No urban vs rural differences in rates of personal violence were noted; however, numerically there were more rural than urban suicides and homicides.

Association of national cancer mortality and suicide rates.

Using WHO data from 1996 instead of 1990, the authors replicated and extended Knodrichin and Lester's 2001 study. Like their study, our total rates of cancer mortality and suicide in a similar sample of 37 European nations of the world were estimated to be positively associated.

Membership in voluntary associations and rates of suicide in the provinces of Canada.

Applying Lester's method to data from 10 Canadian provinces, the 1997 and 1999 age-standardized rates of suicide were not associated with the extent (%) to which Canadians participated in voluntary associations.

Gun availability and use of guns for murder and suicide in Canada: a replication.

Following Lester, the rate of accidental death from firearms was associated with the percentage of firearms used in suicides and on homicide victims except for persons aged 55+ yr.

Reliability of estimates of return of lost letters as a measure of public attitudes to taking human life.

An analysis of letters distributed in cities and smaller rural communities in north and south Florida (ns=400 and 448) showed return rates among several addressees were slightly but significantly correlated (rs=.10 and .10) so very small interpoll agreement is present.