Comparative Patterns in Life Course Victimization

Abstract

Culturally sanctioned child homicide practices and criminally motivated acts of child murder result in thousands of juvenile deaths each year. Whereas research elucidating the causes and mechanisms underlying child abuse and neglect has gained national recognition and prominence, studies specifically addressing child homicide have historically been scant. Recently, however, comprehensive empirical studies have facilitated the examination of child homicide as a successional, life course process of victimization. Although homicidal deaths occur in children of all ages, risks and dynamics are not uniform. Child homicide incidence is generally bimodal, peaking in early childhood and late adolescence, periods characterized by intense competition and social rivalry. Analogous patterns of conspecific lethality have also been noted in many nonhuman primates and other social vertebrates. Although not mitigating human responsibility, descriptive comparative analyses of the behavioral changes inherent in juvenile growth and development, childhood socialization, and social competition can provide valuable insights into the proximate and ultimate causation of child homicide.