ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on some demographic variables with some case examples to explain all non-criminal patterns of behavior. These include age, gender, race/ethnicity, and socio-economic status. A cursory glance at homicide data for the United States in any given year clearly illustrates the importance of the ages of both victims and assailants in the murder scenario. Murder is predominantly a male crime, with a vast majority of male murderers and a clear majority of male victims. One of the more striking observations of homicide in America is the frequency of intra-racial murder. Of all the factors related to the incidence of murder in America, few are as obvious as the high concentration of the form of violence among lower-income groups. The vast majority of murders are committed by poor people who kill other poor people. The sociological literature supporting this theory is quite extensive.
