Case reviewHomicide in Brescia County (Northern Italy): A thirty-year review
Introduction
Since ancient times homicide represents the prototype of the illegal act addressed to the annihilation of the most precious human gift: the life. The word homicide (from the Latin homo-man and cidium-killing) means a person's death caused by another human being. In most countries homicide is a crime if it comes from an unlawful action.
This study was conducted by the Institute of Forensic Medicine in the County of Brescia, an important industrial district in Northern Italy (Lombard region), with a population of more than 1,250,000 (12.8% of Lombard region population; 2.2% of Italian population).1
The latest report on the homicide rate in the European countries showed that the number of victims by homicide in Italy is not so high as the media usually emphasized: the risk is much higher in Eastern Europe countries (such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia), but also in some countries of Northern Europe, in particular Finland, Sweden and Denmark.2, 3 All around the world, the homicide rate is frighteningly high in Colombia, South Africa, Brazil and Sri Lanka.4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Section snippets
Materials and methods
This retrospective study analysed the post-mortem examinations reported by the Brescia Institute of Forensic Medicine from June 1, 1982 to June 31, 2012. During the 30-year period, a total of 11,111 post-mortem investigations were performed; among these, 251 were homicide (2% of all exams).
In each case, the following parameters were considered:
- 1.
Day, month and year of death;
- 2.
Gender, age and nationality of victims;
- 3.
Injurious means;
- 4.
Cause of death;
- 5.
Crime scene information;
- 6.
Homicide-suicide events;
- 7.
Demographic data
Over the period between 1982 and 2012, 251 cases of homicide occurred in the County of Brescia, corresponding to an average homicide rate of 0.7 per 100,000 people per year. Although there is a natural year to year variation, the phenomenon seems to grow a little compared to the first decade (32 victims recorded from 1982 to 1991, 116 from 1992 to 2001 and 104 in the last decade) (Fig. 1). Both males and females were interested (Fig. 2).
Most homicides were observed in summer and in autumn,
Discussion
The County of Brescia is one of the most industrialized Italian urban counties, suffering of economic crisis periods more than other counties. A previous Italian study underlined that homicide rate increases with economic crisis, unemployment rising and financial difficulties.9
Another problem in the County of Brescia is social integration: nowadays Brescia is the Italian County with the highest incidence of foreigners (166.1 per 1000 inhabitant).1 The migratory flow affecting the County from
Conclusions
In the examined period (1982–2012) in the County of Brescia (Northern Italy) there was a persistent low homicide rate, an increase in homicides amongst non-Italians in the region (due to the relevant migratory flow that interested the County, above all from Maghreb countries), with a predominance of gunshot shootings.
The homicide events can reflect the social changes and the different problems (family, economy, employment, contrast among different cultures, stressful living style) that became
Ethical approval
None declared.
Funding
None declared.
Conflict of interest
None.
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