Homicide is the intentional killing of a human being, such as murder and manslaughter. It excludes death by dangerous driving, suicide and abortion, although the latter may sometimes be difficult to distinguish from homicide, particularly where entrance wounds are in the mouth (a feature more often seen in suicides than homicides). Homicide statistics are generally available worldwide and tend to vary less between countries than those for other crimes.
A key element that sets first-degree murder apart from other types of homicide is malice aforethought, or the intent to cause serious bodily injury or death. This is not the only criterion used to determine whether a killing rises to the level of a homicide, but it is essential for a conviction.
The types of homicide vary among cultures, but many of them revolve around domestic violence or gang violence. Gang-related homicides typically involve drug trafficking, territorial disputes, and revenge killings. Other types of homicide include murders committed on ideological grounds, such as the genocidal slaughters of whole populations, like the Holocaust or Rwandan genocide between the Hutu and Tutsi peoples. Finally, some homicides are caused by substance abuse, particularly the consumption of alcohol or drugs that impair judgment and increase aggression.
In 2020, the United States experienced the largest single-year increase in homicide rates since record collection began, driven mainly by gun violence. This brief, prepared by CCJ’s Crime Trends Working Group, explores the factors that drove this spike. It suggests that the rise in murders may have been related to local unemployment and school closures in low-income communities, which led to increased opportunities for young men to engage in armed behavior.
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