MORTALITY, THE SOCIAL-ENVIRONMENT, CRIME AND VIOLENCE

Starting out from the relationship between income equality and indicat ors of social cohesion and social trust, this paper explores the socia l processes which might account for the relationship between greater i ncome equality and lower population mortality rates. We note that: hom icide shows an even closer relationship to income inequality than does mortality from all other causes combined; there are several reports t hat homicide rates are particularly closely related to all cause morta lity; and that there is a growing body of research on crime in relatio n to social disorganisation. We use US state level data to examine the relationships between various categories of income inequality, median state income, social trust and mortality. The data suggest that viole nt crime, but not property crime, is closely related to income inequal ity, social trust and mortality rates, excluding homicide. The second half of the paper is devoted to literature on the antecedents of viole nce. Feeling shamed, humiliated and disrespected seem to be central to the picture and are plausibly related to the way in which wider incom e differences are likely to mean more people are denied access to trad itional sources of status and respect. We suggest that these aspects o f low social status may be central to the psychosocial processes linki ng inequality, violence, social cohesion and mortality.