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Socioeconomic inequalities in homicide mortality: a population-based comparative study of 12 European countries

  • PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY
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Abstract

Recent research has suggested that violent mortality may be socially patterned and a potentially important source of health inequalities within and between countries. Against this background the current study assessed socioeconomic inequalities in homicide mortality across Europe. To do this, longitudinal and cross-sectional data were obtained from mortality registers and population censuses in 12 European countries. Educational level was used to indicate socioeconomic position. Age-standardized mortality rates were calculated for post, upper and lower secondary or less educational groups. The magnitude of inequalities was assessed using the relative and slope index of inequality. The analysis focused on the 35–64 age group. Educational inequalities in homicide mortality were present in all countries. Absolute inequalities in homicide mortality were larger in the eastern part of Europe and in Finland, consistent with their higher overall homicide rates. They contributed 2.5 % at most (in Estonia) to the inequalities in total mortality. Relative inequalities were high in the northern and eastern part of Europe, but were low in Belgium, Switzerland and Slovenia. Patterns were less consistent among women. Socioeconomic inequalities in homicide are thus a universal phenomenon in Europe. Wide-ranging social and inter-sectoral health policies are now needed to address the risk of violent victimization that target both potential offenders and victims.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General of the European Union [Eurothine—grant number 2003, 125] for the data collection and harmonization. Andrew Stickley and Mall Leinsalu’s work was supported by the Swedish Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies [Health and Population Developments in Eastern Europe—grant number A052-10].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm Centre on Health of Societies in Transition, Södertörn University, 14189, Huddinge, Sweden

    Andrew Stickley & Mall Leinsalu

  2. European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Andrew Stickley

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia

    Mall Leinsalu

  4. Department of Public Health, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Anton E. Kunst

  5. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Matthias Bopp

  6. Division of Epidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

    Bjørn Heine Strand

  7. Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Pekka Martikainen

  8. Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm University/Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Olle Lundberg

  9. Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden

    Olle Lundberg

  10. Demographic Research Institute, HCSO, Budapest, Hungary

    Katalin Kovács

  11. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Barbara Artnik

  12. Department of Health Management, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Ramune Kalediene

  13. Department of Demography and Geodemography, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jitka Rychtaříková

  14. Department-Centre of Population Health Monitoring and Analyses, National Institute of Public Health, National Institute of Hygiene, Warsaw, Poland

    Bogdan Wojtyniak

  15. Department of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Johan P. Mackenbach

Authors
  1. Andrew Stickley
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  2. Mall Leinsalu
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  3. Anton E. Kunst
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  4. Matthias Bopp
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  5. Bjørn Heine Strand
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  6. Pekka Martikainen
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  7. Olle Lundberg
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  8. Katalin Kovács
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  9. Barbara Artnik
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  10. Ramune Kalediene
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  11. Jitka Rychtaříková
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  12. Bogdan Wojtyniak
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  13. Johan P. Mackenbach
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mall Leinsalu.

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Stickley, A., Leinsalu, M., Kunst, A.E. et al. Socioeconomic inequalities in homicide mortality: a population-based comparative study of 12 European countries. Eur J Epidemiol 27, 877–884 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-012-9717-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-012-9717-3

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