Homicide in Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden - A First Study on the European Homicide Monitor Data

Homicide in Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden - A First Study on the European Homicide Monitor Data

 In a report titled ‘Homicide in Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden - A First Study on the European Homicide Monitor Data’ a comparative and descriptive analysis is made of the 1577 homicide cases committed in the 3 European countries during the years 2003–2006. Differences and similarities have been studied with regards to rates and structural characteristics, giving answers to the questions of where, when and how homicide takes place as well as who the victims and perpetrators are.

Homicide rates for Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden

The results show a pattern where Finland and the Netherlands show the largest differences, with Sweden most often placed in between regarding many homicide characteristics. One important exception is the homicide rate, where Sweden has the lowest homicide rate per 100,000 population and Finland has the highest, says Johanna Hagstedt, researcher at Brå.

Homicides structures in Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden

When it comes to homicide structure, there are important differences between the 3 countries. Generally however, the 2 Nordic countries are more similar to one another than they are to the Netherlands. Although all the identified homicide types exist in all 3 countries, homicides committed in Finland and Sweden are often characterized by acquainted men killing each other in situations where alcohol is an important factor. In the Netherlands a larger proportion of homicides are associated with a criminal milieu, resulting in slightly younger perpetrators, a higher proportion of homicides committed outdoors with firearms and a lower clearance rate. In other words, homicides in Finland and Sweden more often have expressive motives, while instrumental motives were the most common in the Netherlands.

Similarities in homicides

But there are also important similarities between the 3 countries. For example, most homicides take place during evenings or nights and weekends are more lethal than weekdays. Also, the characteristics of victims and perpetrators are alike. In all 3 countries the victims and perpetrators are largely characterized by being males born in the same country the crime took place in, a large proportion of these being between the ages of 25 and 64.

More about the research: Homicide in Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden

The study is based on 4 years of homicide data collected in each country. The project is important because it has shown that building a homicide database on a European level is feasible. The results are unique in that it is the first time that directly comparable homicide data are available for such a large number of variables for 3 European countries, says Sven Granath, researcher at Brå. The research possibilities are numerous: international comparisons, victim and perpetrator characteristics, in-depth studies of unusual homicide types, changes and differences in judicial definitions and sentencing practices and in the future, possibilities of making time series to study the development in lethal violence are some of them. Most important, however, is the possibility of identifying, designing and evaluating criminal justice measures aiming to reduce and prevent homicide.

European Homicide Monitor (EHM)

Comparisons have been made possible due to the creation of a joint database on lethal violence among the three countries containing information about each case on both incident and individual level. By combining these data, the foundations for a joint database on lethal violence among multiple European countries, here termed the European Homicide Monitor (EHM), has been created. The EHM provides a unique data source for research and could help both policy targeting and evaluating what works in homicide prevention.

Practical information

Author
Soenita Ganpat, Sven Granath, Johanna Hagstedt, Janne Kivivuori, Martti Lehti, Marieke Liem and Paul Nieuwbeerta
Publication number
ISBN 978-91-86027-77-3, URN:NBN:SE:BRA-441
Publication year
2011