Murder May Spread Like Infectious Disease

[Still Waters]

Murder is contagious and may spread like the flu, new research suggests.

The researchers relied on the same techniques public-health officials use to track the spread of diseases, but applied them to the spread of homicide in Newark, N.J., over a 26-year span from 1982 to 2008.

And just as in other epidemics, certain neighborhoods were more susceptible than others.

http://www.livescien...contagious.html

[JGirl]

i get the drift but i don't think it's the best way to describe it

we humans want to make everything a disease or a disorder.

Edited December 1, 2012 by JGirl

[Clarakore]

i get the drift but i don't think it's the best way to describe it

we humans want to make everything a disease or a disorder.

Probably because many only consider physical disease but ignore others. This is why many who suffer mental illness are not treated in the same manner we treat "sick" people and instead they can be ignored or even insulted (made fun of) by others.

If treating murder like a disease then perhaps communities who suffer the highest rates can find alleviation. Going with your theory nothing will change. I prefer helping people instead.

[JGirl]

Probably because many only consider physical disease but ignore others. This is why many who suffer mental illness are not treated in the same manner we treat "sick" people and instead they can be ignored or even insulted (made fun of) by others.

If treating murder like a disease then perhaps communities who suffer the highest rates can find alleviation. Going with your theory nothing will change. I prefer helping people instead.

i gave no theory, only my opinion.

what i do think would help alleviate this so called contagious disease to find a way not to have bad parts of town as opposed to good parts of town. implying it spreads like a disease gives people the impression that there is nothing to do but worry about catching it.

i'm not suggesting it's a simple thing, but zoning and town planning or replanning could play a major proactive role in addressing crime stats in specific communities.

[libstaK]

I'm not sure what is so "ground breaking" about this so called discovery. Is it not common knowledge that fear combined with a survival instinct will bring about violence?

The neighbourhoods most susceptible have the highest unemployment rates and lowest opportunities to get out of the rut they find themselves in. How is it news that people will do whatever they need to do to survive? If it means breaking and entering or stealing to feed yourself and loved ones, you are gonna do that. If you have to protect what little you have with a gun so your family is safe, you are going to do that - the perfect storm for murders and violence.

If this sort of mind set "spreads like a disease" in an area I think it's because those that do well in those environments appears to neighbours to be those who are prepared to do whatever it takes to survive to the next day, people take note of this and copy the behaviour. The more people who do this, the more common it becomes and the more common it becomes the less horrifying the notion of killing others becomes in general.

[Simbi Laveau]

Newark,has...I want to say,the highest crime rate in the country . I will have to look it up .

Crime there never spread,as it was always EVERYWHERE .

[Simbi Laveau]

2010 US murder stats.

Well dip me in nutella,and call me Ishmael ,Newark isn't #1 .It's number 2 .

New Orleans has twice as many murders as Newark,per capita ,per year but Newark has three times a many,compared to most other states .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cities_by_crime_rate

[Regi]

I'm having a hard time following that article.

Also, obviously, there's a limit to what statistics can tell us....

Enlightening story...

Wes Moore escaped the same fate of one other kid in his neighborhood, another boy by the same name.

He found that the two of them had far more similarities than differences, and although the differences he found were simple, they were shown be what made THE difference.

He wrote a book called The Other Wes Moore...One Name, Two Fates

"The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine; the tragedy is that my story could have been his."

[media=]

[/media] Edited December 2, 2012 by regi

[JGirl]

I'm having a hard time following that article.

Also, obviously, there's a limit to what statistics can tell us....

Enlightening story...

Wes Moore escaped the same fate of one other kid in his neighborhood, another boy by the same name.

He found that the two of them had far more similarities than differences, and although the differences he found were simple, they were shown be what made THE difference.

He wrote a book called The Other Wes Moore...One Name, Two Fates

"The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine; the tragedy is that my story could have been his."

[media=]

[/media]

perfect addition to this thread!

[Bonecrusher]

Whenever I think of diseases the first thing that springs to mind are those ones caused by bacteria and viruses.

Tbh that's the only definition I swear by and I don't think these statistics can persuade me to say there's more than one.

There are many factors that lead people to kill and some little pathogen isn't one of them.

If murder was truly a contagious disease I'm afraid we will end up running out of bodybags.

I think these guys need to think of an other term.Something more appropriate and plausible.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Walnut Whip