Teenage Murderers: An Exploratory Comparative Analysis of 2008-2012 Homicides Perpetrated by African American and Non-minority Youth

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

The present analysis is based on murder and non-negligent manslaughter cases committed by teenagers between 2008 and 2012 and focuses on crime incidents that involved one victim and one offender. Using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), this comparative study intends to determine if homicides perpetrated by young offenders belonging to two racial groups (African Americans and whites) can be differentiated. Although there are several inter-group similarities (e.g., homicides involving teenage offenders were more likely to be intra-racial; the victims and the offenders were more likely to be males; most homicides were a result of arguments; former or current intimate partners were the most frequent victims; firearms were more frequently used than any other murder weapons), inter-group differences do exist. Argument-related homicides involving white offenders were significantly more frequent, whereas black offenders were more likely to kill during the commission of another crime. Guns were used more frequently by black offenders (78%) than by white offenders (55%), while knives served more often as murder weapons in homicides committed by white offenders. While almost half (46%) of the homicides committed by African American teenagers were registered in the South, the highest percentage of young white offenders (41%) was registered in the West.

Authors

• Viviana Andreescu, University of Louisville

• Christopher Chukwuedo, Rutgers University