Meghan Rogers

The Curious Case of Percent of the Population That Is Young and Homicide Across Nations

Homicide is a destructive force, and security from it is a fundamental necessity for the health of individuals, families, communities, and nations. Nations very greatly in homicide rates, reflecting the importance of the underlying nature of the state, culture, and social structure. One of our core correlates of homicide across nations is the percentage of the population that is young. Simply, the more the share of the young population, the higher the homicide within a nation. However, this does not seem to be the case within the published literature. Over 87% of the published models in the cross-national homicide literature (overall, gender- or age-specific) do not have the expected association between the percent of the young population and homicide. This presentation seeks to understand why these inconsistencies exist. Specifically, a hypothesized systematic downward bias of the effect size of percent young on homicide in the published cross-national homicide research is tested by employing an RVE meta-regression with random effects. 

Next, the presentation will focus on why this downward bias exists within the published literature. Specifically, it is suspected that there is a latent construct (human deprivation) made up of some of the most common predictors within the cross-national homicide literature. The study explores if the latent construct exists by replicating five previously published studies and gathering updated data pooled across nations and time. The findings suggest a need exists to reassess the conclusions and theoretical explanations about the correlates of homicide victimization across nations in the continued exploration to understand the destructive force that is homicide.

Meghan Rogers is an assistant professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Iowa. She received her PhD in criminal justice from Indiana University. Rogers' research interests include cross-national homicide research, measurement of crime and its correlates, and social structures and crime.

This event will also be available via Zoom.