Homicide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Homicide - Essay Example Most of the individuals who commit murder are males. In 2005, the males were ten times more likely to commit murder than females (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). Since 1976, the male individuals have been very dominant in committing murder and in 1980s and 1990s the males were 20 times more likely to commit murder than females. Since the early 1980s, the offending rates of the females declined and became constant after 1999 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). In 1976, the homicide rate for male offences began at 16.3 per 100,000 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007) of population which remained constant till the next year. The rate increased to 20.6 (U.S. Department of Justice 2007) in the early 1980s and then fell to around 15 percent in 1985. These statistics for males and females offence rates are summarized in Figure 1. The biggest reason for the male dominance in homicide offence is that the males are largely involved in drug abuse and overuse of alcohol. When these individuals are drunk or drugged, their ability to make decisions is diminished and the risk of committing crime increases. Killing done by men, which related to drugs accounted to almost 95% offences while for females, it was only around 5% (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). This shows the correlation between drugged men and homicide is very high. Gang wars and gang related offences are big contributors to homicide. The victims of gang related homicides are 95% males and the offenders are about 98 percent (U.S. Department of Justice 2007), which shows us that most of the individuals who are part of gangs are males. Males are more likely than females to step into arguments with their neighbors, acquaintances and even strangers. Males are also more likely to become revengeful and lose temper than women. This causes them to take revenge from the victims in the form of murder. Therefore we can see a clear and