McCurdy, Merle M.

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Homicide in An Urban Community by Bensing and Schroeder

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Case Western Reserve Law ReviewVolume 12 | Issue 31961Homicide in An Urban Community by Bensingand SchroederMerle M. McCurdyFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/caselrevPart of the Law CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Journals at Case Western Reserve University School of Law ScholarlyCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Case Western Reserve Law Review by an authorized administrator of Case Western Reserve UniversitySchool of Law Scholarly Commons.Recommended CitationMerle M. McCurdy, Homicide in An Urban Community by Bensing and Schroeder, 12 W. Res. L. Rev. 637 (1961)Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/caselrev/vol12/iss3/361961]Book ReviewHOMICIDE IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY by PROFESSORS ROBERTC. BENSING AND OLIVER SCHROEDER, JR. Published by Charles C.Thomas, 1960, 193 pages, $8.75.Cleveland, Ohio, is the locale for this painstaking scientific analysisof the nature and causes of homicide. Spurning the ivory tower ofacademic theory, the authors, two law professors, have examined actualcase histories to compile facts and statistics which document the mostvital aspects of man's oldest crime. The subject is limited, for the mostpart, to felonious homicide (ie., murder and manslaughter) in GreaterCleveland during the seven-year period, January 1, 1947, through De-cember 31, 1953. Six hundred and sixty-two homicides, which occurredduring that period, serve as the basis for this exhaustive study. Tables,graphs, maps, and photographs are extensively employed throughout thebook to set forth the authors' findings.The use of Cleveland as the locale for this social dissection is mostfortunate since the Forest City is an accurate barometer of conditions innorthern urban communities; the results yielded by the authors' researchprovide a reliable indication of the nature of the homicide problem inother similar communities.The book is divided into two parts; the first section deals with legalaspects of homicide and the latter with its social aspects. In developingthe legal aspects the authors discuss, analyze and graphically demon-strate court disposition of felonious homicide. Classification is performedaccording to race, sex, and age of defendants and victims, types of con-flict which give rise to homicide, methods of killing, presence of alcohol,and other relevant factors. There is also a detailed section depictingpercentage of homicides during various three-hour periods of the day,frequency during particular days of the week, and monthly averages.Among the statistics developed, it is of note, since Ohio is consideringabolishing the death penalty, that only nine of 116 defendants chargedwith first degree murder were sentenced to death. The record of courtdisposition is so complete and dearly stated that one can, by examiningthe tables, answer several important questions: how many women wereconvicted of the various degrees of homicide for killing a male; howmany Negroes, as compared to whites, were placed on probation formanslaughter; how many defendants pleaded to the indictment or tolesser charges; how many defendants elected to try their cases to juries;how many were tried to judges; how many were acquitted, by juries orby judges?In attempting to emphasize the completeness of this study, withinWESTERN RESERVE LAW REVIEWthe scope of a brief review, it is possible to point out only a few of thefactors examined in this most comprehensive study. It is not surprisingto note that firearms are used more than any other weapon but it issurprising (at least to this writer) to note that females used cuttingweapons almost twice as often as their male counterparts. A numberof statistics substantiate popular beliefs: most slayers are relatively young(seventy-two per cent between twenty-one and forty-five); whiskey is in-volved in many killings (more than forty-nine per cent of the victims hadbeen drinking); in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Negroes are involved inmore killings than whites (more than seventy-six per cent of all homicidescommitted during the control period involved Negro slayers). Whilethis factual and statistical analysis is valuable, it does not constitute thesole virtue of the book. Equally important is the scientific manner inwhich the facts are interpreted. In the summary on legal aspects ofhomicide, the authors state only that which may properly be concludedfrom their limited survey. They do not pronounce any sweeping gener-alities or universal absolutes applicable in all places at all times. Unlessa relationship is thoroughly established by the figures, it is not suggested.This is to the credit of the authors since the temptation to predicatetenuous conclusions upon the basis of such statistics is always strong, andliterary restraint under such circumstances marks the difference betweena scholarly and a non-scholarly approach.The second section of this book concerns the social aspects of homi-cide. The authors graphically depict the geographical areas in whichhomicide occurs, and then discuss and dissect the economic, educationaland racial make-up of these areas. As would be expected, homicidesoccur most frequently in the most depressed economic areas. In Cleve-land these are the predominantly Negro neighborhoods. Some mightinfer from this situation that Negroes, by reason of racial attributesalone, are homicide prone. This erroneous inference is substantiallyrebutted by facts showing that the percentage of Negroes in the popula-tion is itself not an index of the homicide rate. The statistical tablesin this section of the book demonstrate the relationship between thehomicide rate and population stability, social maladjustment, populationdensity, median income, financial dependency, crowded housing condi-tions, infant mortality rates, incidence of child neglect, prevalence ofjuvenile delinquency, and many other social conditions. The homiciderate varies in direct relation to some of these factors; others are notdirectly correlative. Intelligent application of these statistics may indicatewhen an area is dangerously ripe for widespread homicide.As the authors conclude: "Homicide is not accidental. Nor is thefact that some areas have a high rate and others a low rate a matter ofcoincidence. The almost invariable association of a high homicide rate[June1961] BOOK REVIEW 639with so many other symptoms of social il-health and economic needshows almost conclusively the socio-economic basis of homicide."Homicide in an Urban Community, although not recommended forcasual reading, provides a valuable statistical handbook for criminologists,penologists, sociologists, urban and social planners and any civic-mindedcitizens interested in "long-range efforts for slum eradication, better hous-ing, more universal education and better work opportunities," to curethose social illnesses which lead, in their terminal stages, to the violentkilling of one man by another.MERLE M. McCuRDYWESTERN RESERVE LAW REVIEWVolume 12, Pages 641 to 811WESTERN RESERVE LAW REVIEWMember, National Conference of Law ReviewsEDITORIAL STAFFHARVEY M. ADELSTEIN, Editor-in-ChiefGERALD A. MESSERMAN, Managing EditorAssociate EditorsCHARLES J. CONSIGLIOGEORGE DOWNINGALAN I. ARNOLDDON P. BROWNMARViN DRONZEKMYRON L. JOSEPHBRUCE L. NEWMANPHILLIP A. RANNEYBOARD MEMBERSFRED L. KuRLANDERJOHN 0. MARTINLAWRENCE R. SCHNEIDERREESE TAYLORJOHN R. WERRENAPPRENTICESFrank A. BerndtEdward R. BrownDavid G. ClarkDaniel B. DavisJonathan S. DworkinSheldon M. EisnerVictor M. JavitchByron S. KrantzRichard H. KraushaarLeRoy L. LambornFrederick M. LombardiRichard B. MoritzIvan L. OttoRobert J. RotatoriRichard W. SchwartzAlan J. ShapiroAlan B. SoclofPeter F. YoungLAWRENCE HERMAN, Faculty AdviserSEYMOUR J. SCHAFER, Associate Faculty AdviserPublished quarterly by students of THE SCHOOL OF LAW OF WESTERN RESERVE UNIVER-SITY, Cleveland 6, Ohio. Copyright 1961 by Western Reserve University. Subscription: $5.00per annum payable in advance; $2.00 for single issues; $3.00 for Volume 12, Number 2. Ifsubscription is to be discontinued at expiration, notice to that effect should be sent to theManaging Editor; otherwise it will be renewed as usual.

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Homicide in An Urban Community by Bensing and Schroeder

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