Homicides and socioeconomic influences: a report from Argentina for the period 1971-1997

Abstract

Homicide rates in Argentina were really high between 1971 and 1977, probably because of the political conflicts occurring at that time. These rates declined at the end of the 1970's and at the beginning of the 1980's. Then, from the middle 1980's on, there was a progressive increase in both homicide rates and the percentage of accused individuals under the age of 21. This article argues that this increase was due to the influence of an unbalanced situation between certain aspects of regional development and the increase in relative deprivation, and to other facilitating elements such as easier access to drugs. In this study, the most significant and homogeneous correlation was detected among independent variables such as gross domestic product (GDP), Gini's coefficient, unemployment rate and the dependent variable of the percentage of murderers under the age of 21.

As taxas de homicidio na Argentina foram realmente altas no período de 1971 a 1977, provavelmente devido a conflitos políticos ocorridos naquela época. Essas taxas declinaram no final dos anos 1970 e incio dos anos 1980. Mas da metade da década de 1980 em diante, houve um aumento progressivo nas taxas de homicidio e na porcentagem de indivíduos acusados menores de 21 anos. Este artigo demonstra que esse aumento ocorreu devido a influencia do desequilíbrio entre certos aspectos do desenvolvimento regional e o aumento da privação relativa, e outros elementos facilitadores como acesso mais fácil a drogas. Neste estudo, a correlação mais significativa e homogênea foi detectada entre variáveis independentes tais como produto interno bruto, coeficiente de Gini, taxa de desemprego e variável dependente de porcentagem de homicidas menores de 21 anos.