NCJ Number
215700
Journal
Journal of Gang Research Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Dated: Summer 2006 Pages: 15-29
Date Published
2006
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper explores the interrelationship between criminalistics and criminology through an analysis of the types of weapons used in Asian gang homicides.
Abstract
The main findings revealed that firearms were the predominant weapon type used in gang homicides for White, African-American, and Asian gangs. When firearms were controlled, the weapon of choice for White and African-American adult gang homicides was a knife while Asian adult gangs preferred blunt objects. Among juvenile gangs, when firearms were controlled the weapon of choice for homicides was a knife for Whites, African-Americans, and Asians. The findings thus suggest that the use of blunt objects in the commission of gang homicides is related to being Asian. The analysis demonstrated how the criminological variable of race and the criminalistic variable of type of weapon used in the commission of a crime were interrelated, indicating that the fields of criminalistics and criminology might be synthesized in an effort to control crime. Data on gang-related homicides for the years 1990 through 1999 were drawn from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports, which contains information from approximately 17,000 law enforcement agencies around the country. Data were analyzed using chi-square tests of significance. Tables, endnotes, references