Citation

Baller RD, Shin DJ, Richardson KK. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2005; 35(3): 343-355.

Affiliation

University of Iowa, Department of Sociology, 140 Seashore Hall W., Iowa City, IA 52242-1401, USA. robert-baller@uiowa.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16156494

Abstract

In an effort to explain the spatial patterning of violence, we expanded Sutherland's (1947) concept of differential social organization to include the level of deviance exhibited by neighboring areas. To test the value of this extension, the geographic clustering of Japanese suicide and homicide rates is assessed using 1985 and 1995 data for prefectures. Univariate results show that both types of violence cluster significantly in space. Inconsistent with the proposed expansion of differential social organization, multivariate results show that proximity to homicide does not increase the risk of homicide in Japan. Results for suicide are supportive and suggest that proximity to higher rates of suicide exposes residents to cultural values that support suicide and to role models who have committed suicide.