P089 - Social Protection, Culture, and Lethal Violence : A cross-national study of homicide

• In Event: Poster Session & Ice Cream Social

Abstract

Violence, a global social problem, profoundly impacts individuals worldwide, with homicide being a tragic manifestation of lethal violence. The WHO categorizes causal factors at various levels, including the societal level on which this research concentrates. The study aims to examine the impact of social structure and culture on homicide, adopting a macro-sociological perspective by integrating institutional anomie theory (IAT) and the stream analogy of lethal violence (SALV). IAT presumes that social structure (institutions) and culture dominated by the economy affect altogether interdependently homicide rates of a society. The SALV extends this perspective, proposing that frustration arising from social structural and cultural factors serves as a force to homicide. Based on this, this research focuses on decommodification at the institutional level as a counter force to homicide and liberalism at the cultural level as a force to homicide. Using data from 40 OECD countries, the study utilizes multiple regression analysis to explore the impact of social structural factors (decommodification) and cultural factors (liberalism) on the homicide rates. Notably, the study compares the pre-COVID-19 period (2017-2019) with that during the pandemic (2020-2022), illustrating how the pandemic as a global crisis may reshape the dynamics of social structural and cultural factors, and their influence on homicide. The COVID-19 pandemic, affecting all OECD countries, adds a theoretical dimension to the research, aligning with a Durkheimian anomie perspective. The findings contribute not only to theoretical implications but also provide a nuanced understanding of how external crises, such as the pandemic, may alter the intricate relationship between social structures, culture, and homicide. The discussion includes implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research, offering a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted factors influencing homicide rates in contemporary societies.

Keywords: institutional anomie theory, decommodification, liberalism, inequality, the stream analogy of lethal violence, homicide, COVID-19 Pandemic, OECD

Author

• Junghi Ha, Universität Erfurt