Criminal Homicide, U.S.S.R./U.S.A.: Reflections on Soviet Data in a Comparative Framework

Abstract

The general paucity of data on Soviet social conditions (in comparison to the data available from many other developed countries, including some of those in Eastern Europe) renders the exploration of sociological issues relating to the USSR rather difficult. This problem of information is especially evident when one's attention is drawn to phenomena such as crime and delinquency. Despite the growing volume of Soviet writing on these problems, "hard" data are mainly notable for their absence, and the statistics Soviet writers publish are most frequently percentage distributions of unknown integers. While lack of such data presents a formidable obstacle to research, it has not entirely discouraged Western scholars from attempts to clarify one or another segment ofthe total picture of crime, alcoholism and allied forms of deviant behavior in the USSR.' The present study represents a tentative attempt at extending these inquiries in tvo ways: first, by focusing on criminal homicide, a particular type of deviant behavior with a defined quality that the categories "crime" and "delinquency" lack; and second, by placing the admittedly extremely sketchy Soviet data available into a loose comparative framework with parallel data from American studies of homicide.

Differences in female and male involvement in lethal violence in Russia

“…Across cultures and over time homicide offenders tend to be overwhelmingly male, with most studies showing that men perpetrate 82 to 95 percent of all homicides (Carcach & Conroy, 2001; Chimbos, 1993; Connor, 1973; Kellermann & Mercy, 1992; Mouzos, 1999; Pridemore & Eckhardt, 2008; Salfati & Dupont, 2006; Shaw et al, 2006; Silverman & Kennedy, 1987; Wilbanks, 1983a; Wolfgang, 1958). Men are also the most frequent targets of lethal violence, though the sex ratio for homicide victims tends to vary more than for offenders.…”

Alcohol and Disinhibition

“…Provocation from the victim, who is also often intoxicated as well [9,[166][167][168], often elicits impulsive violent behavior. If the resistance to provocation can be shown to be weakened by alcohol consumption, the disinhibition hypothesis is supported.…”

“…He suggested that alcohol at BAL above 0.2% disinhibits aggressive behavior. Connor [166] reported that between 70 and 80% of homicides in the Soviet Union were performed when the criminal was intoxicated. He suggested that the frustrating environment produced aggressive impulses, which became disinhibited when intoxicated.…”

Crime Victimisation: A Study into the Profile of Homicide Victims in Istanbul

“…In England and Wales, Gibson andKlein (1969, as cited in Horan, 1985) reported that quarrels and revenge responses from sexual jealousy and infidelity were the two main motives for homicide. Arguments were the main motives in the USSR (Connor, 1973 as cited in Horan, 1985) and in Israel among the Jewish population. Among the Arab population, the percentages of feud and vendetta homicides were the highest (Landau and Drapkin, 1968 as cited in Horan, 1985).…”