Time of death: masculinity
and homicide
K Ratele, L Swart and M Seedat
MRC-UNISA Crime, Violence and Injury Lead
Programme/
Institute of Social and Health Sciences, University of
South Africa
Presentation at MenEngage Africa Symposium,
Newton, Johannesburg, 07 October 2009
Introduction, Outline and Aim
•
While there are a range of organisations and research expertise within the fields of
crime, violence and related areas, there remain gaps in the research literature
concerning South Africa’s violence. For example, most studies, if they do remark on the
location of offences, fail to consider temporal and seasonal aspects of the phenomena,
or do so only in passing. Furthermore, there is failure with public health studies on
violence to pay attention to the role of masculinity. These are two of the gaps we aimed
to fill in this piece of work.
•
Uses data obtained from the South African National Injury Mortality Surveillance
System (NIMSS) (see, e.g., Donson, 2008).
•
Analyse the relative significance of a number of key variables regarding violence
homicides; assess some explanations for the particularly high levels of violence and
violent deaths in our country; gives overview of violence in South Africa which is not
intended to be read as a systematic review .
•
Employ research and theories of masculinity and draw from them to help explain the
observed patterns of fatal violence, seen as a health issue.
Overview of problem
• The immensity of South Africa’s violent crime problem is well-known. In
2006/2007 there were 19 202 reported cases of murder, 20 142
attempted murders, 218 030 incidents of assault with intent to inflict
grievous bodily harm, and 52 617 cases of rape (Crime Information
Analysis Centre, 2007), (respectively 40.5, 42.5, 460.1, and 111.0 per
100, 000 of the population).
• By most accounts these are high levels of crime and violence. The
horrific stories of interpersonal violence that appear in the national media
on a seemingly daily basis, only serve to further fuel this perception.
• Why does South Africa experience such violence?
Some explanations of nature and extent violence in
South Africa
• A number of possible explanations have been suggested for the violence
(e.g, Altbeker 2007; Breckenridge 1998; Coovadia et al 2009; Parker,
Dawes and Farr 2004; Schönteich and Louw 2001; Seedat et al 2009)
– “the institutional architecture” on which the successive apartheid governments and their
predecessors in South Africa were predicated nourished “a violence-rich male
subculture”
– violence is “embedded” in the country’s history.
– the life of “mining hostels and the prisons [where] men, torn from the bosoms of their
families, lived in a pressure-cooker world where the resort to violence to protect oneself
and one’s property was common, accepted and necessary”.
– effects of apartheid, years of political upheaval
– continued exposure to poverty in the home and neighbourhood
– culturally accepted alcohol use
– emotional investment and culture of recreational violence among at least some men;
– murderous intolerance; quickly resort to violence as a means of resolving conflicts —
whether in domestic, social, or work environments
But,
• Men’s disproportionate involvement in violence is not a uniquely
South African phenomena.
• Violence is not just a criminal justice problem; it is as much a
problem of culture and psychology, generated by historical
conditions, connected to workplaces, with political effects,
associated with poverty and inequality, and of course central to
the gender relations.
• Violence needs to be situated in relation to these factors and in an
international context. Violence, which has been recognised as a
global health problem by the WHO, has been shown to account for
high levels of injury and loss of life on a world scale (Krug, et al.
2002).
Aspects of Methodology
•
For the study reported here, data were obtained from the NIMSS for the period
2001-2005. All deaths classified as homicide during this period were identified
across four major cities in which the NIMSS had full coverage of non-natural
fatalities: Cape Town, Durban (eThekwini), Johannesburg, and Pretoria
(Tshwane).
•
NIMSS procedures begin with the routine data collection activities of police
officers and pathologists. Thereafter, mortuary clerical and/or our staff enter the
information onto a computerised database and it is sent to our offices where all
data from mortuaries and forensic chemistry laboratories is collated, cleaned, and
analysed.
•
Descriptive statistics of the key variables relating to the homicide victim [age, sex,
blood alcohol concentration (BAC)], external cause of death, and to the
environment [month and day of death] were calculated in the form of frequency
distributions and percentages.
Results
A total of 33, 365 deaths from
homicide were registered at the four
cities’ mortuaries between January
2001 and December 2005.
Time of death was recorded for 26,
025 (78%) of these deaths.
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
TOTAL
Day
969 (41.7)
821 (37.4)
624 (39.0)
573 (38.8)
368 (43.5)
3355 (39.8)
Night
1352 (58.3)
1372 (62.6)
975 (61.0)
903 (61.2)
478 (56.5)
5080 (60.2)
732 (37.8)
750 (37.3)
458 (33.7)
599 (34.4)
439 (31.4)
2978 (35.3)
1204 (62.2)
1260 (62.7)
902 (66.3)
1144 (65.6)
957 (68.6)
5467 (64.7)
744 (37.7)
700 (35.1)
417 (35.3)
451 (36.9)
457 (37.7)
2769 (36.5)
1232 (62.3)
1295 (64.9)
764 (64.7)
772 (63.1)
754 (62.3)
4817 (63.5)
Day
36 (52.2)
81 (36.3)
78 (28.9)
120 (39.9)
111 (35.8)
426 (36.3)
Night
33 (47.8)
142 (63.7)
192 (71.1)
181 (60.1)
199 (64.2)
747 (63.7)
Cape Town
Durban
The majority (16, 348, or 62.8%)
Day
occurred at night (8pm to 5am) with Night
the remaining 9, 677 (37.2%)
occurring during the day-time (6am to
Jhb
7pm) period.
Day
This pattern - showing the majority of
Night
homicides to occur at night - was
consistent across the four cities, as
evident in table.
Pretoria/
Overall, there were 1.7 night-time
homicide deaths for every day-time
homicide death.
Tshwane
Results: Characteristics of homicide victims - Sex
•
Of the 27, 378 homicide deaths where the sex of the victim was recorded
88.1% were male and 11.9% were female.
•
Overall, there were 7.4 male homicide deaths for every female homicide
death. The male to female ratio was even higher for night-time homicides
(8.4:1) than day-time homicides (6.5:1).
•
Among male homicide victims, 12,210 (63.4%) of deaths occurred in the
evening and there were 1.74 night-time homicides for every homicide
occurring during the day.
•
Among female victims, 1,455 (57.4%) of homicide deaths took place at
night. The night to day-time ratio was somewhat lower among female
victims, with 1.35 female homicide deaths occurring at night for every one
occurring during the day.
•
Being male, simply put, puts you at a higher risk for fatal violent (and
possibly for injury from violence)
Results: Characteristics of homicide victims - Age
• Homicide victimisation rises dramatically from the age of 15 years,
peaking among the 25-29 year old age group, and tapering off from
the age of 45 upwards.
• Most homicide fatalities fell within the 15 to 44 year old age group
(87.6%). Figure on next slide illustrates this age range peak to be
considerably more pronounced for homicide deaths occurring at night.
• Age, in short, is key in thinking about violence
Homicide Deaths by Age and Time of Day for Four Cities, 2001-2005
Day time
Number of cases
3500
Night time
3219
3000
2861
2673
2500
2000
1815
1798
1476
1500
1147
1000
640
1547
1150
1241
711
682
446
500
8784
3238
451
338
5467
225
186
137
144
6357
3744
3730
3720
0
4
9
4
9
4
9
4
9
4
9
4
9
4
9
o 4 to 9 to 1 to 1 to 2 to 2 to 3 to 3 to 4 to 4 to 5 to 5 to 6 to 6 to 7 to 7
t
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
Age in years
+
80
Results: Characteristics of homicide victims – External Cause
of Death by Time of Day
• The majority of deaths due to ‘external causes’ were related to
firearms (18,377, 55.1%), sharp objects (9,744, 29.3%), and blunt
objects (3,927, 11.8%) - the remaining 1,157 (3.5%) being the
result of strangulation, hanging, burns, and drowning.
• Figure on next slide illustrates the higher proportion of homicide
deaths due to firearms (9,573, 58.7%) and sharp objects (5,075,
31.1%) occurring at night, in comparison with the day-time
(firearms = 4,913, 51.1%; sharp objects = 2,702, 28.1%).
Homicide Deaths by External Cause of Death and Time of Day for the Four Cities,
2001-2005
Day time
Night time
Number of cases
12000
9573
10000
8000
6000
5075
4913
4000
2702
1541 1299
2000
464
366
0
Firearm
Sharp object
Blunt object
External Cause of Death
Other
Results: Characteristics of homicide victims –
Scene of injury
• Scenes of injury were recorded for only 17, 418 (52.2%) of homicide
deaths.
• Of these, private dwellings (4,868, 27.9%) were the most common
scene of injury, followed by roads/highways (4,445, 25.5%), informal
settlements (3,028, 17.4%), residential institutes (homes for the
aged, hotels and hostels) (1,745, 10%), and other scenes, such as
open land, or retail centres (3,332, 19.1%).
• This trend was similar for both the homicides that occurred at night
and those occurring in day-time.
• What this suggests is that being inside a house/home is not really
much safer than being outside.
Homicide Deaths by Scene of Injury and Time of Day for the Four
Cities, 2001-2005
Number of cases
Day time
3000
2474
2500
2329
2000
1500
Night time
1721
1390
1332
1001
1000
1289
1136
729
460
500
0
se
u
ho
e
at
v
i
Pr
ad
o
R
ay
w
gh
i
/h
f
In
m
or
al
t
en
m
tle
t
se
te
u
t
i
st
n
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ia
t
n
de
i
s
Re
Scene of Injury
r
he
t
O
Results: Homicide Fatalities by Month and Day
•
Homicide deaths appear to rise towards the end of the year. The peak month for
homicides was December, followed by October and November. This peak in
homicides towards the end of the year was apparent among both night and daytime incidents.
•
In terms of day of week, Saturday is the peak day for homicide deaths followed
by Sundays and Fridays.
•
Next figure reveals that homicide deaths occur more often in the evening for all
the days of the week. However, the ratio of night to day homicide deaths is more
notable over the weekend period, where almost twice as many homicides occur
during the evening as they do during the day.
Figure 4: Homicide Deaths by Day of Week and Time of Day for the Four
Cities, 2001-2005
Day time
Night time
4500
4168
4000
3385
3500
3000
2460
2500
2000
1500
2123
1905
1858
1330
1488
1100
1434
1059
1000
1533
1214
931
500
0
M on
Tue s
We d
Thurs
Day of We e k
Fri
Sat
Sun
•
•
•
Blood alcohol analyses were
conducted in 20, 279
homicide fatalities.
Just over half (10, 208,
50.3%) of these cases tested
positive for alcohol, with a
mean concentration of 0.16
g/100ml (SD=0.9).
Of the victims tested for
alcohol, the majority of those
whose death had occurred at
night (54.8%) were found to
test positive, compared to
only 42.4% of those who died
during the day.
Percentage of cases
Results: Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Levels
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
454
1095
916
2364
>0.25
765
220
1918
0.15 – 0.24
517
0.05 – 0.14
0.01 – 0.04
3197
4853
6am-5pm
6pm-5am
Time of day
Zero
Discussion
•
In sum, results show that homicide deaths rise towards the end of the year, with
a peak in December.
•
The increase in figures of homicide deaths during the last months of the year
are most likely due to the fact that these are summer holiday months in South
Africa when young people go on their long recess from schools and universities,
and most working adults receive their income bonuses and take their holidays
away from their places of employment.
•
There appears to be a clear temporal association between leisure time and an
increased risk of violent victimisation as further indicated by the time of day and
day of week data.
•
On all days of the week, violence-related deaths occur more frequently at night.
More deaths occur on Saturday and Sunday nights than during week-day
nights. The weapons most commonly used to inflict fatal injury are firearms,
followed by sharp objects.
Discussion 2
•
The majority of night-time homicide victims test positive for alcohol consumption and a
number of measures point to the importance of evening leisure time as a socio-temporal
context for violence. However, this does not necessarily correspond to the use of leisure
spaces. Private houses are the most likely scenes of fatal injury, followed closely by
roads and highways.
•
Homicides rates rise dramatically from the age of 15-19 years, peak among 25-29 year
olds, and decline significantly from the age of 45. Male deaths from violence-related
injury outnumber those of females by more than 7:1. This male to female ratio increases
still further during the evening. Among males, two out of every three violent deaths
occurs at night.
•
Available data lends strong support to the hypothesized relationship between being
young, being male, and being at particular risk of fatal violent crime.
•
The gendered nature of such victimization in South Africa is further underlined by the fact
that “females accounted for an average of only 13% of homicide victims from 1999 to
2001” (Matzopoulos, 2004; see also Prinsloo, 2007). This is not to suggest that females
face little risk of violence; it is to note that in comparison with males they are less likely to
be killed as a result of it.
Discussion 3: Introducing masculinity
•
Studies have noted how, for some men, authority over women and children is assumed to
be a rightful part of social relations and estimations of manhood . Likewise, some men see
dominance over other men as being equally important to notions of masculinity.
•
In a range of contexts, this authority-play between men often relies upon the use of force.
Research has noted that physical violence is a “central feature of the upbringing of both
white and black South African men, (being) integral to the political-economic structure that
encompassed both groups”.
•
Many scholars cohere in the view that violence lies at the core of some men’s self-image,
both in relation to how they define themselves and “weigh” other men. An influential idea in
the studies on male violence has been the understanding that in any one arena, be it a
pub, playground, prison, or political party, there is a number of masculinities operative.
•
More significantly, this idea stresses the fact that not all masculinities are valued equally by
men, women and society in general. Masculinities are organised hierarchically, with the
most valued forms perched at the top, and other subordinate ways-of-being-a-man
arranged below. This implies that men are engaged in an ongoing struggle over which
characteristics are truly representative of ‘manliness,’ and thus around which men most
embody this elusive, but most sought, of qualities.
Discussion 4: Masculinity contd.
•
This study indicates that in most SAn contexts, homicide is a mainly weekend nighttime, spring and summer seasons, male, under-45 years of age phenomenon.
•
It seems that when young men come out to play on a weekend night they tend to play
with other young men as much they may do with women. The forms of play between
males, and between male and females, appears to have different consequences. One
of these differences is that when males play with each other, masculinity orders and
identities are at stake.
•
The accomplishment and reproduction of male hierarchy and manhood occurs at both
a social and psychological level, established in ongoing activity, of which violence, or
violent potential, may be one constituent.
•
It is not that young men go out of their homes with the aim of reproducing their
masculinities. The process happens, for the most part, unconsciously or as an aspect
of other activities. The unconscious elements are likely related to affectivity, a felt
need to prove oneself through the display of character: fearlessness, defence of
honour, willingness to meet a challenge.
Discussion 5: Masculinity contd.
•
Interpersonal violence has powerful performative dimensions. Young men recognise this,
acting out a “violent version of manhood, seeking to instill fear and to make their
presence known before a terrified audience” (Barker and Ricardo 2005: 24-25).
•
The statistical analyses presented here lead us to the opinion that there may be a time
dimension to these psycho-social struggles which needs to be appreciated in thinking
about violence and men.
•
Specifically, we argue that young males in South Africa attempt to appropriate the night
as a time for staking their claim as ‘big men’.
•
In their nightly sojourns, young men are drawn to act out exaggeratedly potent fantasy
versions of masculinity.
•
These attempts to accomplish masculinity may be tenuous and performative but they are
none the less important. They have implications, not just for policing, but also for policies
on health, alcohol licensing, leisure, urban governance, economics, social development,
education, and employment.
Acknowledgements
• With grateful acknowledgements to the
staff of the MRC-UNISA CVI; forensic
pathology services and specialists;
national and provincial departments of
health