Homicide Offending and Victimisation of Toronto in Canada

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the homicide offending and victimisation of Toronto in Canada. It could be Homicide has long been considered to be a primarily male phenomenon. Substantiating this view was the general trend constructed by cross-national studies which shows that males was typically both the victims and the instigators of homicide. In Toronto, during the past 10 years, this trend seems to have become all the more pronounced. Since the year 2000, approximately 90% of offenders and 75% of victims of homicide have been males, a substantial increase from previous decades where the proportions were 85% and 66% respectively. This means that the percentage of homicide offenders and victims that are female has decreased. These changes, then, can be explained by trying to account for an increase in male homicide victimisation and offending, or by trying to account for a decrease in female victimisation and offending. The paper discussion would attempt to do both. More specifically, it would illustrate how patterns in marriage rates, domestic violence, and changes in women’s status and opportunities could explain a decrease in both homicide offending and victimisation of females. Additionally, the masculinity theory of crime would be used to explain how changing social and economic factors in Toronto may have contributed to an increase in male homicide victimisation and offending.