National Religious Affiliation and Integrated Model of Homicide and Suicide

• DOI: 10.1177/1088767916634407
• Author: Don Soo Chon
• Date: 01 February 2017
• Published date: 01 February 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

Homicide Studies

2017, Vol. 21(1) 39 –58

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DOI: 10.1177/1088767916634407

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Article

National Religious Affiliation

and Integrated Model of

Homicide and Suicide

Don Soo Chon1

Abstract

The current study assessed the relationship between national religious affiliation

and lethal violence by simultaneously examining homicide and suicide rates. The

information on homicide and suicide rates for 124 countries came from the World

Health Organization (WHO). Regression results suggested no significant difference

in lethal violence between predominantly Catholic and Protestant countries, although

Islamic countries revealed significantly lower homicide, suicide, and overall lethal

violence rates than non-Islamic countries. Countries with a high level of religious

heterogeneity are subject to an increased suicide rate. The implications of these

findings were discussed.

Keywords

homicide, suicide, religious affiliation, religious decline, religious heterogeneity

In most cases, homicide and suicide have been studied separately (He, Cao, Wells, &

Maguire, 2003) because homicide has been considered as a crime and suicide, a men-

tal health issue (Liem, Hengeveld, & Koenraadt, 2009). Given this research trend,

Unnithan, Huff-Corzine, Corzine, and Whitt (1994) contended for the need to research

homicide and suicide simultaneously, with the assumption that homicide and suicide

share common underlying causes (i.e., frustration and aggression). The integrated

model of lethal violence, however, can be traced back a century to Durkheim’s

(1898/1958) work, Suicide.

One of Durkheim’s major findings was that Protestant countries and provinces in

Europe experience a higher suicide rate than Catholic ones. Durkheim’s theory is a

century old, however, and Stack (1983) proposed that the gap in suicide rates between

1Auburn University at Montgomery, AL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Don Soo Chon, Assistant Professor, Department of Justice and Public Safety, Auburn University at

Montgomery, P.O. Box 244023, Montgomery, AL 36124-4023, USA.

Email: dchon@aum.edu

634407HSXXXX10.1177/1088767916634407Homicide StudiesChon

research-article2016

40 Homicide Studies 21(1)

Protestant and Catholic countries has disappeared in recent years because of overall

secularization and ecumenicalism, which refers to the unity among different faiths

(Kaufmann, Goujon, & Skirbekk, 2012). In addition, a small group of researchers

hinted a low lethal violence rate (LVR) in Muslim countries (Groves, McClearly, &

Newman, 1985; Simpson & Conklin, 1989); therefore, further research on this focal

point is warranted.

In addition to the difference in suicide rates among countries with various religious

affiliations, little consensus exists on whether a homicide rate follows the same path as

a suicide rate, and also whether Protestant countries sustain a higher homicide rate

than Catholic ones. Other scholars have focused on overall religious secularization or

religious decline and its impact on lethal violence (Stack, 1983). That is, a religious

society is subject to a low suicide rate because of the presence of a social network and

support for an individual experiencing life stresses (Pescosolido & Georgianna, 1989).

Another factor possibly related to lethal violence is religious heterogeneity. Grounded

along the social disorganization theory (Sampson & Groves, 1989; Shaw & McKay,

1942), religious diversity may impede the effective social control of an individual’s

criminal and deviant behaviors, which in turn contributes to increased violence.

Based on these open issues, the current study focuses on the effects of religion on

lethal violence. Specific emphasis is on whether there is a difference in the direction

of lethal violence among countries with different predominant religions, religious

secularization or decline is related to the direction of lethal violence across countries,

and religious heterogeneity is associated with the direction of lethal violence across

countries.

Theories and Hypotheses

Integrated Model of Lethal Violence

Although the revival of the integrated model of homicide and suicide is a relatively

recent event (Unnithan et al., 1994), its origin is related to Durkheim (1898/1958) and

Henry and Short (1954), among others. Although Durkheim’s (1898/1958) primary

interest was an ecological study of suicide, he also discussed the relationship between

suicide and homicide (1898/1958). By considering homicide and suicide as two cur-

rents of a single stream, Durkheim (1898/1958) asserted that a religious passion or

“vendetta” (p. 356) can lead to an aggravated murder rate in a society: “Where reli-

gious faith is very intense, it often inspires murders and this is also true of political

faith” (p. 356). Next, Henry and Short (1954) developed a frustration–aggression

model for homicide and suicide research. By viewing social and economic deprivation

as a major source of frustration, Henry and Short (1954) explained that such frustra-

tion may lead to aggression either in the form of homicide or suicide. Henry and Short

(1954) reported that developed countries consistently exhibit a low homicide rate and

a high suicide rate.

Based on the classic works of Durkheim, Henry and Short, and others, Unnithan

et al. (1994) developed an integrated model or stream analogy of lethal violence.