Violent death data viewed by municipal socio-economic groupings

Objective: Using a system of municipal classification by socio-economic status, violent deaths in the State of Connecticut were charted for years 2001-2004, revealing a more accurate picture of homicide in the most in need communities.

Methods: Of the 1432 deaths charted by socio-economic status, there were 395 homicide deaths and 1037 suicide deaths from 2001-2004 in Connecticut. Connecticut utilizes a system of categorization that identifies school districts by socio-economic status. The nine classifications from “A” to “I” make up socio-economic groupings (SEGs) with SEG I containing the poorest and highest need districts, including Connecticut's five biggest cities.

Results: SEGs A to H have homicide rates ranging from .3, for SEG B, to 2.6, for SEG H. The homicide rate for SEG I, at 9.6, is more than three times the homicide rate of the SEG H which at 2.6 is the second highest homicide rate after SEG I. The homicide rate in SEG I at 9.6 is higher than Connecticut's average annual suicide rate of 7.6. By contrast the suicide rate in SEG I at 7.6 is equal to the state average rate for suicide.

Conclusion: While suicide deaths are a public health concern, it is clear from the use of SEGs that homicide is a greater public health concern than suicide for the poorest and most in need communities. Other geographic models solely using urbanization measures are less accurate in describing communities and fail to take into account important socioeconomic factors leading to an understatement of urban homicide rates.