SOC 2760 Study Guide - Final Guide: Victimology, Visible Minority

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 2760
• Professor: Rob Shearer

Document Summary

Canada has experienced a declining homicide clearance rate over the past several decades. Decline appears to have experienced a punctuated downturn in the early 1990s. During the 1980"s, the national homicide clearance rates in canada hovered about 90% but by 1991, the rate had dropped to under 85%. Understanding the changing nature of homicide clearance is important for several reasons: (a) an increase in uncleared cases could reflect greater risk of interpersonal violence particularly with reference to serial cases; (b) the idea of offenders at large can lead to public unrest and uncertainty as well as draw attention to a state"s inability to accurately manage homicide offenders. (c) clearance is often assumed to be a measure of police effectiveness, thus any decrease may result in generalized distrust of the police force. (d) suffering experienced by families of homicide victims appears to be intensified when the offender is not known.