Lethal Violence in England and Wales (1977–2022): Examining Social, Economic, and Cultural Influences on Homicide Trends

• In Event: Trends in lethal and non-lethal violence

Abstract

This paper presents early findings from a new study seeking to understand the drivers of homicide trends in England and Wales over the last forty-five years (1977-2022). Drawing on over-time exploratory analysis it will disaggregate the data by homicide subtypes (drawing on Homicide Index) and compare these cleavages with over-time patterns of non-lethal violence (utilising the Crime Survey for England and Wales). Notably, homicide in England and Wales has not replicated the declining rates observed elsewhere in the industrialised world and cannot be explained (as yet) by the same theoretical or empirical frameworks. Our study presents a unique opportunity to develop ‘real world’ knowledge to assess if the homicide rate in England and Wales has fallen consistently across a) socio-demographic sub-groups; b) whether patterns in circumstantial characteristics of homicides have changed over time; c) whether all homicide subtypes have fallen to a similar degree; and (d) which factors have driven recent homicide trends up, and how these patterns interact with other long-term social, economic and cultural processes.

Authors

• Stephen Farrall, University of Nottingham

• Emily Gray, University of Warwick

• Andromachi Tseloni, Nottingham Trent University