FEMALE HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION IN THE UNITED-STATES - TRENDS IN RELATIVE RISK, 1946-1990

Objective. This report extends an analysis presented in an earlier Social Science Quarterly article. Investigating the trend in women's risk of homicide victimization relative to that of men, rate-adjusted proportions of female homicide victims are examined for the years 1946-90. Methods. Rate-adjusted proportions of female homicide victimizations were calculated from mortality data reported in Vital Statistics of the United States. Regression analysis was used to examine the direction and strength of any existing trends. Results. The trend in females' relative risk of homicide is found to be one of general stability during the years of the study. The same trend is found among the three age groups most at risk to homicide victimization. Conclusions. Despite expectations to the contrary, the relative risk of homicide victimization is shown to be reasonably constant during an era of broad societal changes that altered the roles of women in U.S. society. Possible reasons for this surprising stability are discussed, including developments that uniquely affected the absolute risks of men during the same period, thus offsetting any relative differences that might have emerged.