A recent study published with the National Library of Medicine by University of Iowa affiliates found pediatric homicide is one of the leading causes of mortality in children and adolescents.
The study details pediatric homicide in the U.S. and its connection to age, gender, race, relationship, and firearm usage.
Mark Berg, one of the co-authors of the paper, as well as a professor of criminology and director of the Center for Social Science Innovation at the UI, partnered with coworker Ethan Rogers and UI alum Hannah Rochford to compile data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 1976-2020 Supplementary Homicide Reports.
Rogers, who has a skill set with analyzing data, and Rochford, who has an interest in both public health and intimate partner violence, worked with Berg to compile data and put together the report, which came out in the fall of 2024.
“The goal of this study was to provide a comprehensive, descriptive account of the social epidemiology of pediatric homicides with a particular focus on the characteristics of the people who perpetrate these victimizations and the types of weaponry they deploy, and then to assess the changes in these qualities since 1976,” Berg said.
The use of firearms in pediatric homicide has been increasing over recent years, according to the research. In 2016-20, the proportion of firearm-involved homicides was an all-time high for infants and toddlers at 14.8 percent, children at 53.1 percent, and adolescent victims at 88.5 percent.
“It was partly motivated by the growing themes in criminological and public health literature involving the mortality patterns of pediatric individuals in the United States, particularly related to firearms,” Berg said.
The Supplementary Homicide Reports, provided by the FBI, shows data spanning decades that follows the perpetrator and their demographics as well as their motives. The data shows that firearms are becoming increasingly utilized, and males are often the perpetrators in situations with children ages zero to 19.
“These facts can set the stage for additional research and theorizing, especially deductive theorizing, to account for the facts that develop from long-standing criminological, sociological, public health theories, to not only account for the patterns here but to forecast how things might change,” Berg said.
The research conducted by Berg and his team shows overwhelming data that demonstrates how firearms and specific demographics and backgrounds can encourage perpetrators to commit a crime.
“I’ve had an interest in embracing the public health approach to violence, which is violence as a disease, a preventable cause of death, especially firearm violence,” Berg said. “The public health approach is to provide a description of what this disease is and allow the next generation of researchers to develop the treatment, the pill.”
Rochford, co-author of the paper, works in the public health field to provide a comprehensive analysis of the data from this study from another perspective besides criminology.
RELATED: JoCo Board passes $208,000 agreement to reduce gun violence
“There’s been a lot of change in the burden of firearm-related harm in kids,” Rochford said. “That was one of our purposes, to consider across victim demographics and perpetrator demographics: What groups are using firearms more often? Hopefully understanding that variation, we are able to take preventative steps.”
The study takes a retrospective look at preventative measures that can be implemented into action to prevent pediatric homicides, such as policy interventions that improve family stability and well-being, programs that target peer and community relationships, and policies that focus on firearm access.
“I think an important lens to take about preventing pediatric homicides is that we actually shouldn’t be just focused on the events that result in death,” Rochford said. “We certainly want to prevent the most extreme cases, but the way we go about that needs to be accounting for how to keep families and communities safe and secure.”
Pediatric homicide has been defined as one of the highest causes of death for infants, children, and adolescents over the past decades. This study works to increase awareness of that and provide a better look at the facts.
“I think it’s important to remember that each of these observations was a person, and that person whose story had an ending that it shouldn’t have,” Rochford said. “I think we honor them by leveraging all of the data that we have on fatal outcomes to the best of our abilities. We can’t bring folks back, but we can honor them and prevent it from happening again.”