Homicide in Eight Countries From 1980 to 2000: The Flow From Crimes Committed to Time Served in Prison

• Date: 01 August 2020
• Author: David P. Farrington
• Published date: 01 August 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/1088767920916914
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767920916914

Homicide Studies

2020, Vol. 24(3) 268 –282

© 2020 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/1088767920916914

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Article

Homicide in Eight Countries

From 1980 to 2000: The Flow

From Crimes Committed to

Time Served in Prison

David P. Farrington1

Abstract

This article summarizes national data on completed homicides for eight countries in

three time periods: around 1980, 1990, and 2000. The eight countries are England/

Wales, the United States, Sweden, Australia, Scotland, Switzerland, the Netherlands,

and Canada. In each year, the article presents the number of police-recorded crimes,

the number of persons convicted, the number of offenders sent to custody, average

sentence length, average time served, and all linking probabilities. It also shows

changes in all these measures between 1980, 1990, and 2000 in different countries.

It would be desirable to carry out longitudinal research, tracking offenders through

the criminal justice system.

Keywords

homicide, cross-national comparisons, conviction rates, sentence length, time served

It is very important to specify and explain the flow of offenders from crimes commit-

ted to time served in prison. For example, what is the probability of an offender being

convicted, and what factors influence this probability? What is the probability of a

convicted offender being sent to custody, and what factors influence this probability?

What is the average sentence length and average time served, and what factors influ-

ence these quantities?

It is also important to investigate the influence (if any) of criminal justice probabili-

ties on crime rates. For example, to what extent does the probability of an offender

being convicted influence crime rates, and how and why? To what extent does the

1University of Cambridge, UK

Corresponding Author:

David P. Farrington, University of Cambridge, Institute of Criminology, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3

9DA, UK.

Email: dpf1@cam.ac.uk

916914HSXXXX10.1177/1088767920916914Homicide StudiesFarrington

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