The Currents of Lethal Violence

Book excerpt: Building on past work, the authors outline an integrated model for linking suicide and homicide and show how that research from this perspective can further our understanding of violence. Specifically, they show that research based on this model provides new insights into how structural and cultural factors combine to produce high homicide levels in the American South and cross-national difference in lethal violence rates. In conclusion, they evaluate the model's utility, address possible criticisms of this perspective, and suggest avenues for further investigations of lethal violence.