Social context and geographic patterns of homicide among US black and white males

Objectives. The recently published;Atlas of United States Mortality depicte d striking regional differences in homicide rates for Black and White males in the United States. This study examined these rates to gain an understan ding of the contribution of social context to geographic variability in hom icide. Methods. Homicide rates were calculated by health service area for the year s 1988 to 1992. The contributions of age, geographic location, urbanization , and sociostructural characteristics were evaluated by means of a weighted linear mixed effects model. Results. Regional differences in urbanization explained much of the geograp hic variation in homicide rates, but sociostructural factors also had a sig nificant impact. The results suggest that these effects operate similarly f or White and Black males, although differences were found in the magnitudes of the effects for the 2 groups. Conclusions. Results point to a strong association between homicide and urb anization and socioeconomic conditions in all regions of the country for bo th Black and White males. These findings shed light on the potential correl ates of high homicide rates in the United States in the near future.