Child Deaths from Lack of Care and Injuries of Undetermined Intent in Ohio, 1959 to 2015: How Many Were Probable Homicides?

Abstract

Previous scholars have shown that a considerable proportion of child deaths in mortality statistics that have been coded as deaths from Lack of Care (LC) or from Injuries of Undetermined Intent (IUI) were probable homicides. Historical research, however, shows (a) that nosologists used the LC and IUI classifications with a changing frequency over time in Ohio and in the national at large in relation to the number of child deaths that they classified as homicides, and (b) that the proportion of LC and IUI deaths in Ohio that were probable homicides changed over time. These changes should be taken into account by historical criminologists whenever they study long-term trends in child homicides, particularly the homicides of children under age 10.