Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

54
Urban crime and violence
Per 100,000 inhabitants
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Figure 3.3
Arab states
Rates of homicides:
Selected regional
trends (1986–2000)
Source: Shaw et al, 2003, p48
Figure 3.4
Homicide rates and
war casualties
Source: UNODC, 2005b, p54
Incidence per 100,000 population
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Africa
All countries
of the world
Eastern Europe and
the Commonwealth of
Independent States
European Union
Latin America
and the Caribbean
Sub-Saharan
Africa
Southeast Asia
and the Pacific
1986 1990
1995 2000
the population (300 million versus 784,000). Although it is
important, there are many other factors at work besides
population size that explain crime counts and rates. Not the
least of these is how data is reported and recorded at local
and national levels.
Using another sample, Figure 3.2 shows that 73 per
cent of the mostly industrialized nations (38 out of 52)
providing information on crimes reported to the police
showed an increase in both crime counts and rates between
2001 and 2002, while 19 per cent experienced decreased
counts and rates, and 8 per cent higher counts but reduced
rates. 27 The overall increase in counts and rates is generally
consistent with victim survey data for this time period.
However, this data includes ‘crime attempts’ that make it
difficult to compare with other official crime data sets. Given
the very short interval, no trends can be clearly discerned.
Homicides at global and regional levels
Homicides are considered in terms of global, regional and
national levels since in many cases the data overlaps.
Homicides are violent contact crimes. The definition of
homicide generally includes intentional and non-intentional
homicide. Intentional homicide refers to death deliberately
inflicted on a person by another person, including infanticide.
Non-intentional homicide refers to death that is not
The Americas
Southeast
Asia
Europe
War casualties
Eastern
Mediterranean
Homicide
Western
Pacific
deliberately inflicted on a person by another person. This
includes manslaughter, but excludes traffic accidents that
result in the death of a person. 28 Homicide is widely considered
the single most important indicator of violent crime,
and there are often many other lesser crimes (such as
robbery) that are associated with it. Moreover, it is the
offence that is most likely to be reported. Consequently,
homicides are likely to be recorded by the police. 29 Despite
this, it should be clear that homicide is a rare crime,
especially when compared with property crimes such as
larceny and theft.
Homicide rates are associated with combinations of
social, economic, cultural and political factors that are
unique to localities, even though similar underlying risk
factors tend to be found globally, such as poverty, unemployment,
and cultural and social norms that may encourage
violence as a way of settling disputes. These risk factors are
discussed in more detail in the section ‘Factors underlying
crime and violence’. Figure 3.3 provides a picture of
homicide rates for selected global regions. It clearly shows
that Latin America and the Caribbean region and sub-
Saharan Africa have the highest rates of homicides, while the
EU and the Arab States have the lowest rates. For the period
of 1990 to 2000, WHO data shows that violent crime,
including homicide, grew globally from about 6 incidents per
100,000 to 8.8 per 100,000 individuals. 30
Figure 3.4 includes homicide and war casualty rates
for various regions. It shows double-digit homicide rates for
Africa and the Americas, and significantly lower rates in
Southeast Asia, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and
especially the Western Pacific. Although there are many
factors at work, some of the divergence between regions
reporting high and low homicide rates is associated with
broad socio-cultural constraints on violence and the development
and perceived efficacy of criminal justice systems. High
war casualty rates for Africa reflect large numbers of localized
conflicts that have taken place there over the last
decade. Research suggests that the deadly after effects of
civil wars linger for about five years after combat itself stops,
increasing the per capita rate of homicide by about 25 per
cent irrespective of changes to income levels, equality or the
nature of state institutions. 31
Figure 3.5 reports the same homicide data regionally,
but also shows suicide rates. Suicide is considered an intentional
crime in many countries. With the exception of the
Eastern Mediterranean region, suicide rates are almost the
inverse of homicide rates in other regions. Among other
things, this data suggests that poverty is less of a risk factor
associated with suicide than cultural and social values and
norms that discourage (or support) self-harm as a viable
solution to problems. Interpreted this way, it reinforces the
fundamental importance that informal institutions play in
shaping behaviour.
Homicides trends in cities
Homicide rates for 37 selected cities drawn mainly from
developed countries and based on police reports are
presented in Figure 3.6. Also shown is the EU average for