This volume is a statistical and sociological analysis of one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Combining original research and a review of all major previous studies on criminal homicide in America, this study attempts to discover and to analyze patterns in criminal homicide from among almost six hundred cases that occurred in the city of Philadelphia between January 1, 1948, and December 31, 1952.

The primary source of data utilized by Marvin E. Wolfgang was the files of the Homicide Squad of the Philadelphia Police Department. Answers were sought to a series of...