The Handbook of Homicide

The Handbook of Homicide will be an invaluable resource to those interested in understanding the phenomenon in all its diversity and complexity. Thomas P. Abt, Harvard Kennedy School Murder, the gravest of human transgressions, and other varieties of homicide are treated in exhaustive breadth in this volume. The geographic and topical scope are impressive. There are contributions both fascinating for scholars of homicide and useful for those charged with keeping it from happening and solving it when it does. How much of cross-national variation in homicide statistics reflects real differences in rates of killing rather than differences in definition and reporting practices? What are the non-legal factors influencing how severely different killings are sanctioned? What is corporate homicide? Why is DNA rarely a smoking gun? These, among many other questions asked and answered, make this an interesting and valuable collection. Joel Wallman, The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation for the Study of Violence. The Handbook of Homicide presents a comprehensive collection of original essays by renowned experts and scholars from around the world, exploring the nature, causes, and patterns of homicide, as well as policies and practices for its investigation and prevention. It offers novel insights into the significant range and complexity of homicide in its myriad forms and includes chapters on homicide in regions of the world and types of homicide that are often overlooked in existing literature. Theoretical and research-based insights are presented to help explain global variations in crime rates, and shifting patterns and trends. Further chapters explore specific types of homicide including: gang, drug-related, sexual homicides, honor and hate killings, infanticide, terrorism, and genocide. This Handbook also examines the latest approaches utilized by police agencies and forensic science labs to investigate homicide cases, and covers the state-of-the-art research currently available to reduce and prevent homicide The Handbook of Homicide provides an indispensable source of information on all aspects of the extremely complex global phenomenon that represents the most serious form of violent crime