Victim Lifestyle as a Correlate of Homicide Clearance. (November 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rydberg, Jason; Pizarro, Jesenia M.
• Is Part Of: Homicide studies. Volume 18:Number 4(2014:Nov.)
• Page Start: 342
• Page End: 362
• Publication Date: 2014-11
• Subjects: clearance -- policing -- lifestyle -- detectives -- investigation -- theory; Homicide -- Periodicals; 364.152
• DOI: 10.1177/1088767914521813
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1088-7679

Abstract

The current inquiry adds to the literature by using Hindelang's lifestyle theory to examine the relevance of victim involvement in a deviant lifestyle to the likelihood of and time to homicide clearance. Bivariate analyses suggest that victim lifestyle is an important factor in the distribution of clearance enhancing characteristics across homicide incidents. Cox proportional hazard models indicated that higher levels of victim participation in deviant lifestyle significantly increased the time until a homicide was cleared by arrest. Theoretical and practical issues are discussed in light of these findings.