Firearm Homicides in Europe: A Comparison with Non-Firearm Homicides in Five European Countries

Krüsselmann, Katharina; Aarten, Pauline; Granath, Sven; Kivivuori, Janne; Markwalder, Nora; Suonpää, Karoliina; Thomsen, Asser H.; Walser, Simone; Liem, Marieke

doi:10.1080/17440572.2023.2211513

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The system has been used extensively in intra-European comparisons. In addition to an original study broadly comparing Finland, Netherlands, and Sweden, the EHM network has been used, for instance, to research homicide clearance (Liem et al, 2019), disaggregated trends in Europe (Suonpää et al, 2024) and specific types of homicide, such as firearm homicide (Krüsselmann et al, 2023) and intimate partner homicide (Liem et al, 2017). 1 For the current analysis, the piloting of the EHM in the Dutch Caribbean is of particular interest, as the analytic grid was applied outside continental Europe for the first time.…”

Section: Comparative Research Using the Ehm Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Homicide in Global Extremes: Exploring the Feasibility of EHM-Based Analysis in Finland and South Africa

Kivivuori,

Singh,

Suonpää

et al. 2024

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

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Homicide remains a major cause of death globally. The global risk differentials are a persistent public health challenge. Africa’s homicide rate of 13 victims per 100,000 people is markedly higher than the European average (2.2 per 100,000 people). To understand the causes of such large differences, homicide research needs to move from country-level rates to disaggregated analyses in which homicide is broken down by victim, offender, and incident characteristics. We conducted a pilot study in which the European Homicide Monitor (EHM) coding manual is applied to a South African research location and compared to an extreme point in the Global North, Finnish urban areas. We find differential patterns in the two locations. The high-rate context of South Africa manifests a younger offender and victim age structure, a higher share of criminal and revenge motives and the use of firearms, and incidents in public places. In contrast, the comparatively low-rate Finnish context shows a higher relative share of intimate partner violence and familial incidents taking place in private places. The role of alcohol and drugs appears more salient in Finnish urban homicide, a finding calling for replication. We conclude by discussing the methodological challenges revealed by the pilot comparison.

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Section: Comparative Research Using the Ehm Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Homicide in Global Extremes: Exploring the Feasibility of EHM-Based Analysis in Finland and South Africa

Kivivuori,

Singh,

Suonpää

et al. 2024

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

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“…To an extent, these expectations are met in the European context, as most victims of firearm homicides are male, disproportionally so when compared with the victims of homicides committed by other means. Mortality and crime data suggest that on average about 80% of all firearm homicide victims in Europe are men, with the majority of European countries falling within or above this average (Duquet & vanden Auweele, 2021; Krüsselmann, Aarten, Granath, et al, 2023; South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons [SEESAC], 2023). In addition, several studies and reports describe firearm violence—often measured as firearm homicide—victims as young men below the age of 40 (Copic & Dokmanovic, 2021; De Labbey et al, 2021; Sturup et al, 2019).…”

Section: The Impact Of Firearms On the Nature Of Homicidementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, not all available information on firearm homicide victims aligns with the expectations. In some countries—such as Austria, Belgium, Slovenia, and Switzerland—the proportion of female firearm homicide victims is significantly higher than the European average (Krüsselmann, Aarten, Granath, et al, 2023). Similarly, in some countries, firearm homicide victims are not particularly young or even younger than victims of homicides committed by other means (Duquet & vanden Auweele, 2021; Krüsselmann, Aarten, Granath, et al, 2023).…”

Section: The Impact Of Firearms On the Nature Of Homicidementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some countries—such as Austria, Belgium, Slovenia, and Switzerland—the proportion of female firearm homicide victims is significantly higher than the European average (Krüsselmann, Aarten, Granath, et al, 2023). Similarly, in some countries, firearm homicide victims are not particularly young or even younger than victims of homicides committed by other means (Duquet & vanden Auweele, 2021; Krüsselmann, Aarten, Granath, et al, 2023). In addition, the findings reported by Krüsselmann, Aarten, & Liem (2023) who conducted their study in the Netherlands aiming to test the Adversary Effects Hypothesis suggest no significant effect of the victim’s criminal history on the use of a lethal firearm in homicide compared with other weapons.…”

Section: The Impact Of Firearms On the Nature Of Homicidementioning

confidence: 99%

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Triggering Violence? The Impact of Firearms on the Nature and Lethality of Violent Encounters: A European Perspective

Krüsselmann

2024

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

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Firearms are used in around 25% of homicides in Europe. More so than other weapons commonly used in violent encounters, firearms have the ability to inflict lethal injuries. Yet, theoretical approaches to understanding the impact of firearms on the prevalence, lethality, and nature of violent encounters are scarce and have been developed almost exclusively within and for the context of the United States, where the levels of firearm violence and firearm availability are much higher than in Europe, limiting their applicability to the European context. To address this issue, European empirical data are reviewed in this paper to critically assess the few existing theoretical approaches focusing on the use of firearms in lethal and non-lethal violence. Based on the obtained findings, future directions for empirical research, as well as suggestions for new conceptualizations of firearm violence in Europe are presented.

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“…Second, we also compare homicide rates to several ‘violence-adjacent’ crimes, crimes that do not necessarily involve direct interpersonal violence, but are associated with it. For example, firearm crime and drug-related crime have strong links with violent criminal milieus, particularly in the Netherlands (Krüsselmann et al, 2023). The inclusion of these crimes, then, allows us to capture the concept of ‘violent crime’ somewhat more holistically , by incorporating the ‘grey area’ of what constitutes violent crime.…”

Section: The Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Old habits die hard: Assessing the validity of using homicide as an indicator of other violent crimes

van Breen,

Rabolini,

Liem

2023

European Journal of Criminology

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Homicide statistics are often used as an indicator for violent crime more generally. In this work, we evaluate the empirical support for this convention in a Western European context, specifically the Netherlands. Using data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and from the Dutch Homicide Monitor, we compare homicide rates to rates of other violent crimes between 2010 and 2020. Results show that homicide and violent crimes are related in a general sense, but it is difficult to say what those relationships look like concretely. In other words, there is an empirical relationship between homicide and the overarching concept of violent crime, but relationships between homicide and individual violent crimes vary considerably. Based on these findings, we advise that researchers tread carefully when using homicide as an indicator of violent crime.

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Firearm Homicides in Europe: A Comparison with Non-Firearm Homicides in Five European Countries

Cited by 10 publications

References 48 publications

Homicide in Global Extremes: Exploring the Feasibility of EHM-Based Analysis in Finland and South Africa

Homicide in Global Extremes: Exploring the Feasibility of EHM-Based Analysis in Finland and South Africa

Triggering Violence? The Impact of Firearms on the Nature and Lethality of Violent Encounters: A European Perspective

Old habits die hard: Assessing the validity of using homicide as an indicator of other violent crimes

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