An Exploratory Analysis of Homicide Victims, Offenders, and Events in Russia

Abstract

Detailed research on violence in Russia was nearly impossible until recently because the former Soviet government kept crime and mortality data secret and because Soviet ideology discouraged scientific studies of crime. Transparency has increased during the transition, however, allowing scholars not only to access official data but to undertake independent criminological studies. Taking advantage of a unique set of homicide narratives drawn from court and police records and statements by offenders and witnesses of homicides in the Udmurt Republic from 1989 to 1991 and in 1998, this article is one of the first of its kind to examine the homicide event in Russia. These data are employed to explore victim and offender characteristics, victim-offender relationships, weapon use, motive, time and location of events, and the role of alcohol. Although exploratory in nature, the descriptive results should provide observations on which to develop theory about interpersonal violence.