For many decades analysts have commented on the disproportionately high rates of homicide in the Southern states. In 1958, for example, the South had a homicide rate about nine per 100,000 as compared to about three per 100,000 for the rest of the country. In recent years the gap has been narrowing, as the rate of increase in the homicide rate has been higher outside the South. In 1972 the homicide rate was 12.6 per 100,000 for the South, compared to about 7.3 per 100,000 for the rest of the country. Hackney, employing regression analysis on aggregate homicide (and suicide) data from 1940, found that the regional effect remained strong even after the effects of degree of urbanization, average level of education, average income, unemployment rate, wealth of state, and average age of inhabitants of state are controlled.
