TO KILL OR NOT TO KILL? LETHAL OUTCOMES IN INJURIOUS ATTACKS*

1996/11/01 by RICHARD B. FELSON, Richard B. Felson, Steven F. Messner +1 · 158 citations
Environmental Science · Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Computer science #Computer security #Crime Patterns and Interventions #Criminology #Human factors and ergonomics #Logistic regression #Medical emergency #Medicine #Poison control #Psychology #Set (abstract data type) #Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence #Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1996.tb01218.x

published in Criminology 34(4), 519-545 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 1996/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

This research explores the utility of the notion of lethal intent for understanding the outcomes of injurious attacks. We suggest that assailants sometimes kill rather than merely injure victims to avoid either retaliation or criminal prosecution. We hypothesize that, for these tactical reasons, offenders will be more likely to kill when they have no accomplices, when their victims are male or black, and when the victim can identify them. These hypotheses are tested with a merged data set containing information on homicides and nonlethal victimizations involving robbery, rape, and pure assault. The results of multiple logistic regression analyses are largely consistent with theoretical expectations.

Citations

• Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error
• Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach

Cited by

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• Oculomotor examination of the weapon focus effect: does a gun automatically engage visual attention? [europepmc]
• Differences by Victim Race and Ethnicity in Race- and Ethnicity-Motivated Violent Bias Crimes: A National Study. [europepmc]
• Interactions Between Offender and Crime Characteristics Leading to a Lethal Outcome in Cases of Sexually-Motivated Abductions. [europepmc]
• Understanding the dark side of personality in sex offenders considering the level of sexual violence. [europepmc]
• "Sorting Things out": A Scoping Review of Sexual Homicide Typologies. [europepmc]

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