Paper Summary:

This paper examines how homicide is of interest not only because of its severity, but also because it is a fairly reliable barometer of all violent crime. It looks at how news media accounts of homicides can affect the public's perception of the importance of issues and how criminologists have long tried to understand the variables that lead to an individual committing an act of homicide. It discusses how homicide is primarily a problem plaguing minority communities and how research has shown that it is probably poverty, unemployment, and social stresses, not race that increases the risk of homicide. It recognizes that homicide in society is a reality and proposes the implementation of effective strategies or policies that should be analyzed and thought through in order to help in alleviating the act of homicide.

Outline
Introduction
Homicide Defined
Perception of Murder Rates
Homicide Rates According to Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
Theories of Homicide
Implementing a Plan for Public Policy
References

From the Paper:

"News media accounts of homicides can affect the public's perception of the importance of issues. They can also influence the public's perception of risks, fears of personal safety, satisfaction with law enforcement, and trust of others. These concerns, in turn, can have far reaching consequences with regards to personal and political actions and considerations in how resources are utilized in the prevention and control of homicides (Sorenson, Manz, & Berk, 1998). Observing violence in the media can also have negative effects. Sidney Callahan, from the Commonweal Foundation, states that "Violent images on TV or in the movies have inspired people to set spouses on fire in their beds, lie down in the middle of highways, extort money by placing bombs in airplanes, rape people in particularly disgusting ways, and who knows how many other kinds of shootings and assaults" (Callahan, 1996)."

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