Reassessing the situational covariates of homicides: Is there a need to disaggregate?

Despite the vast attention the crime of homicide has received from the academic community, voids remain in the literature regarding the factors that contribute to its occurrence. Only a few studies to date have directly examined the situational covariates of varying homicide types and how each type differs from one another at the incident level. The present study seeks to add to the homicide literature by examining the situational covariates of four distinct homicide types (i.e., domestic, drug, robbery, and interpersonal dispute) that occurred in the city of Newark, New Jersey, from 1997 through 2005. Two research questions are examined: (a) What are the situational covariates of varying homicide motivational types, and (b) do the situational covariates vary by incident motive? The findings show that there are indeed differences among the homicide subtypes in terms of their temporal, event, and victim/offender characteristics. The methodological, theoretical, and policy implications are discussed.