Homicides in two Scandinavian capitals

In this study we investigated homicides in the two Scandinavian capitals, C openhagen, Denmark and Oslo, Norway, for the IO-year period from 1985 to 19 94. The total number of homicides was 431; 63.8% occurred in Copenhagen and 36.2% in Oslo. The average homicide rate was 1.6/100,000 in Copenhagen and 1.8/100,000 in Oslo. Blunt force, sharp force, and strangulation were the most common methods. Firearms were also used but did not account for >20% i n either of the two cities. This is probably due to strict gun laws in both countries. There was no clear difference between the homicide victim popul ations in the two cities with regard to age, gender, or social and marital status. The proportion of alcoholics and unemployed persons was much higher than in the background population and to a similar extent in both cities, indicating that the homicide victim populations differ from the background populations. The perpetrator knew the victim in the majority of the cases. The most frequent motives or circumstances in both cities were fights, fami ly rows, financial controversies, or jealousy.