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Child Murder: a Re-Examination of Durkheim's Theory of Homicide

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Child Murder: a Re-Examination of Durkheim's Theory of Homicide University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2013 Child Murder: A Re-examination Of Durkheim's Theory Of Homicide Melissa Tetzlaff-Bemiller University of Central Florida Part of the Sociology Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Tetzlaff-Bemiller, Melissa, "Child Murder: A Re-examination Of Durkheim's Theory Of Homicide" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2698. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2698 CHILD MURDER: A RE-EXAMINATION OF DURKHEIM‘S THEORY OF HOMICIDE by MELISSA J. TETZLAFF-BEMILLER B.S. University of Central Florida, 2008 M.A. University of Central Florida, 2010 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Sociology in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Summer Term 2013 Major Professors: Lin Huff-Corzine and Jay Corzine © 2013 Melissa J. Tetzlaff-Bemiller ii ABSTRACT The current study examines county-level characteristics and their impact on child homicide. This work uses Durkheimian theory and tests the concept of solidarity by using variables that constitute integration and regulation. In addition, some variables are drawn from other theoretical perspectives, mainly social disorganization and anomie theories, to better explore additional macro-level indicators. Data were obtained from multiple locations. Homicide data for children, from birth through five years, utilized in this work came from the National Incident-Based Reporting System. County level socio-demographics were obtained from the Census. Political party affiliation (Republican or Democrat) came from Politico, and religious data were collected by InfoGroup and organized into groups by the Association of Religion Data Archives. This study aims to increase our understanding of how macro-level contextual and situational factors may help guide policy makers, law enforcement personnel, and any other individuals who are concerned with areas where there are varying degrees of risk for child homicide. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my family: It is because of all of you that I have accomplished this goal. Your strength and guidance has made a huge impact on life and I am very proud to call you my family. You are all very important to me and have been a huge influence. To my grandparents, Shirley and Dean Tetzlaff, I do not know how I was so lucky as to have you for my grandparents. You have encouraged me to follow my dreams despite the time it has taken. You have inspired me to be the person I am today. I cannot thank you enough for your love and support. I am truly blessed to have you two as my grandparents. To my husband, Timothy Bemiller, I am grateful to have found such a wonderful, loving, and caring husband. I know these last three years have been trying, but maybe now we can go on our honeymoon! Thank you for being so patient with me and for all the times you helped me to ―take it one step at a time.‖ Aunt Stacey, I could not have done it without you. You helped me to overcome so many obstacles and I knew, and know, I can always count on you, John and Kara to be there for me. Aunt Jo, thank you for your forever open arms and house. I am so glad I was able to spend some time with you and the rest of the Crofoots while in Florida. Thank you all! Dr. Lin Huff-Corzine and Dr. Jay Corzine, my dissertation co-chairs and mentors: I could not have asked for better mentors. You two have gone above and beyond all expectations of a mentor. You helped me figure this whole Doctoral Program thing out, while seamlessly preparing me for my future! I look forward to being career-long colleagues. You both have pushed me to reach my potential and encouraged me to go further. I have learned more from you iv two than I ever expected and I only hope that I can provide my students with such kindness, support, encouragement and knowledge. Dr. Elizabeth Mustaine and Dr. John Jarvis, my committee members: I thank you both for all of your contributions. I am extremely lucky to have had such great committee members. I look forward to continue working with both of you. Dr. Mustaine, you have been very influential in my choice of study. I look up to you and thank you for all of your guidance and encouragement. Dr. Jarvis, I definitely could not have finished my dissertation without you. Thank you for taking the time out of your hectic life to help me complete this important chapter in my life. Rachel, James, Aaron, Marc, Xavier, Meghan, and Lindsey: The road was long, yet short. I feel honored to have had such a wonderful cohort. I am privileged to say that I know each and every one of you and am so very thankful for the lifelong friendships that were made. You guys are the best! The 6th cohort rocked the Sociology Department at UCF and I know you each of you will continue to do so in your future endeavors! To the other faculty members at the University of Central Florida: I would like to thank Dr. Jana Jasinksi, Dr. Liz Grauerholz, Dr. Ida Cook, Dr. Shannon Carter, Dr. David Gay, Dr. Lynxwiler, Dr. Heili Pals, Dr. Jason Ford, and Dr. Fernando Rivera. You all have helped me in one way or another. Your support, guidance, teachings, and encouragement will forever be appreciated. Thank you! v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ xii LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................ xv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 4 History......................................................................................................................................... 5 Prevalence ................................................................................................................................... 6 Risk Factors ................................................................................................................................ 8 Contextual and Situational Factors ........................................................................................... 10 Offender Motivations for Child Murder ................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 3: THEORY ............................................................................................................... 15 Criminological Theories ........................................................................................................... 15 Durkheim .................................................................................................................................. 17 On Suicide ............................................................................................................................. 17 On Homicide ......................................................................................................................... 20 Religion ............................................................................................................................. 26 Family Life, Sex and Age ................................................................................................. 26 War and Political Crisis .................................................................................................... 27 vi Urbanity/Rurality .............................................................................................................. 28 Types of Homicide ................................................................................................................ 28 Altruistic Homicide in Relation to Egoistic Suicide. ........................................................ 30 Anomic Homicide. ............................................................................................................ 32 Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................ 39 The Present Study ..................................................................................................................... 39 Other Theoretical Perspectives ............................................................................................. 40 Data ........................................................................................................................................... 41 Sample....................................................................................................................................... 43 Dependent Variable .................................................................................................................. 43 Independent
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