HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION

HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION

1. The primary factor of homicide is substance abuse. There is a very complicated relationship that exists between homicide and substance abuse. Most incidents of homicides have come from the victims and murders having taken alcohol, used drugs before they conduct the action. From a study by authors like Sharps, Campbell, Gray or even Webster, it was found that about two-thirds of those men that either killed or tried killing their partners like wives or girlfriends had before taken some drugs or drunk alcohol (Sharps, Campbell, Gary, & Webster, 2003).

Even from a different study done by Muftic and Hunt, they found that the suspects and victims had already taken some alcohol when murdering the individuals (Muftic & Hunt 2013). Even though most people believe that it is men who abuse substances, then end up killing the women, even women can do so. Substances such as cocaine or bhang are hazardous since they change a person’s viewpoint. They are very strong and not easy to reduce from a person’s body. Alcohol is dangerous too because it makes someone to be very violent and carelessly take unnecessary actions.

From many studies, it is difficult to find incidents of homicides where a person is sober. They occur where the substance has altered a person’s system, and when some come to their normal or sober state, they deny committing the murder or do not even remember doing anything wrong. Thus, from the studies, it gives a clear indication that substance abuse is one of the significant risk factors for homicide victimization.

2. The text has characterized many homicide incidents. There is the use of weapons. Most homicides do involve firearms being used by the victims. Most weapons that are used are knives, where the victim grabs it since it is the nearest weapon, the hands where the victim slaps the other person very strongly and even stepping on them until death. Some guns are prevalent, and the FBI has proved that they are the most used weapons by 65% (FBI, 2018d). There is a circumstance where people have many reasons as to why the homicide ended up taking place. Most of the events are due to a misunderstanding, jealousy from a partner, financial problems, or even if the victim provoked the perpetrators. Thus, it is essential to find out the circumstance surrounding a homicide. Victim offender relationship occurs when the individuals have known each other for long as a husband and wives. And from past readings, the wives are the ones that are mostly killed by their husbands, making them victims of the homicides.

There is age, where it is common for those between 18 and 24. This is an age where individuals do not think about other ways of solving issues and end up killing one another without even realizing it. The urbanity and socioeconomic status also matter since we find the most cases of homicides around the rural areas. From my knowledge, when a family does not have a stable status economically, then there are higher chances of killings occurring. This is because of fights due to lack of finances, a partner consuming alcohol to relieve stress, many more. Also, regarding sex, I find that females are the ones that are mostly killed, and males were killed when conducting a different crime or while disputing with their partners. This is because they are not that strong to defined themselves when attacked by the man or are scared to strike back, especially when the man is under the influence of a substance like alcohol. Thus, a lot of incidents can be associated with homicides, but the above are but a few.

References

Sharps, P., Campbell, J. C., Campbell, D., Gary, F., & Webster, D. (2003). Risky mix: Drinking, drug use, and homicide. National Institute of Justice Journal, 250(3), 8-13.

Muftić, L. R., & Hunt, D. E. (2013). Victim precipitation: Further understanding the linkage between victimization and offending in homicide. Homicide Studies, 17(3), 239-254.

FBI, U. (2018). What is Violent Extremism. US Federal Bureau of Investigation, available at: https://cve. fbi. gov/whatis (accessed February 20, 2018).