Review Essay: Homicide

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016807304918
• Author: Laurie J. Samuel
• Date: 01 September 2007
• Published date: 01 September 2007
• Subject Matter: Articles

256

Review Essay

Homicide

Bookman, F. (2005). Understanding Homicide.

London: Sage. vi, 355 pp.

Scott, G. G. (2005). Homicide by the Rich and Famous: A Century

of Prominent Killers. Westport, CT: Praeger. xi, 256 pp.

Beeghley, L. (2003). Homicide: A Sociological Explanation. Lanham,

MD: Rowan & Littlefield. ix, 223 pp.

Understanding Homicide, written by British author Fiona Bookman, is a text on homicide

from the U.K. perspective. The author includes data on England and Wales and contrasts

these countries to Ireland. The book is divided into four sections: “Placing Homicide in

Context,” “Explanations of Homicide,” “Making Sense of Particular Forms of Homicide,”

and “Dealing with Homicide.”

In Part 1, Bookman states that there is a lack of research on homicide in the United

Kingdom and she seeks to fill this void with this text. A search of the literature on research

on homicide in the United Kingdom found few recent articles and texts (see Gresswell &

Hollin, 1994; Innes, 1999; Miethe & Meier, 1990). Bookman looks at homicide from a

social and legal perspective and stresses the rareness of its occurrence in the United Kingdom.

She begins chapter 1 by defining homicide as killing that is either lawful or unlawful (p. 6).

She argues that in examining definitions of homicide, one must look at culpability and

responsibility (p. 4). Thus, one must separate the act from intent.

Bookman spends some considerable time developing the argument that more attention

needs to be paid to deaths that are caused in the act of driving. She outlines three categories

of these types of deaths: “dangerous driving,” “careless driving when under the influence

of drink or drugs,” and “aggravated vehicles-taking,” which is commonly referred to as car-

jacking in North America (p. 10). Driving-related deaths require more attention, she argues,

as they carry multiple elements of seriousness, the first being bad driving and the second

being causing death. It can be argued that in the United States, driving-related deaths are

also not afforded the same attention and seriousness as violence-related killings, which is

evident in the length of time cases are covered in the media and the length and types of sen-

tences that offenders receive. For example, a 22-year-old Buffalo man convicted of killing

three people while driving drunk was given a sentence of 1–3 years and will most likely get

out of prison after serving 6 months (Gryta, 2007).

Another category of homicide not given just attention is corporate killings, such as mining

disasters. Single-death, violent killings are often sensationalized, whereas manufacturing

deaths or those caused by the deliberate actions of business tycoons to save money and battle

with competitors are not often the focus of society’s attention, even though those killed in

the corporate death category far outnumber those killed on the street.

Chapter 2 covers offender and victim characteristics, manner of death, motives, and the

types of weapons most often used in homicides in the United Kingdom. The homicide rate

Criminal Justice Review

Volume 32 Number 3

September 2007 256-265

© 2007 Georgia State University

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10.1177/0734016807304918

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