Single versus Multiple-Offender Homicide in the Dominican Republic: Preliminary Results of Crime Scene, Offender and Victim Characteristics

• In Event: Offenders and their Crime Scenes: Understanding Behavioral Distinctions and Patterns in Serious Violent Crime

Abstract

Recent statistics show that “murder rates in the Caribbean –at 30 per 100,000 annually-are higher than for any other region of the world and have risen in recent years for many of the region’s countries” (United Nations Office on Drug and Crime & The World Bank, 2007, p.iii) with the homicide rate reaching a near crisis point as of 2010 (UNODC, 2011). The Dominican Republic (DR) has one of the highest homicide rates (20.6 per 100, 000 in 2007) in Latin America which is indicative of the need for more empirical research to understand why (Observatorio Centramericano Sobre Violencia, 2007). This study reviews closed case homicide files (N= 189: 112 single-offender, single-victim homicides and 77 multiple-offender, single-victim homicides) obtained from January 2004 through March 2007. Cases were drawn from the National Police and the District Attorney’s Office for the National District of Santo Domingo in the DR. A discussion of preliminary results explores the defining characteristics of Dominican homicide offenders, victims and crime scenes. Multidimensional scaling analyses will then be used to distinguish different themes of homicide to understand the relationship between the actions of an offender and any distinguishing characteristics of a specific type of offender.

Author

• Fabiola M. Ceballos-Durham, The Graduate Center / John Jay College, CUNY