Homicide in Global Extremes: Exploring the Feasibility of EHM-Based Analysis in Finland and South Africa.

Homicide remains a major cause of death globally. The global risk differentials are a
persistent public health challenge. Africa’s homicide rate of 13 victims per 100,000
people is markedly higher than the European average (2.2 per 100,000 people). To
understand the causes of such large differences, homicide research needs to move
from country-level rates to disaggregated analyses in which homicide is broken down
by victim, offender, and incident characteristics. We conducted a pilot study in which
the European Homicide Monitor (EHM) coding manual is applied to a South African
research location and compared to an extreme point in the Global North, Finnish
urban areas. We find differential patterns in the two locations. The high-rate context
of South Africa manifests a younger offender and victim age structure, a higher share
of criminal and revenge motives and the use of firearms, and incidents in public places.
In contrast, the comparatively low-rate Finnish context shows a higher relative share
of intimate partner violence and familial incidents taking place in private places. The
role of alcohol and drugs appears more salient in Finnish urban homicide, a finding
calling for replication. We conclude by discussing the methodological challenges
revealed by the pilot comparison.