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. 2002 Dec;92(12):1921-30.
doi: 10.2105/ajph.92.12.1921.

Vodka and violence: alcohol consumption and homicide rates in Russia

William Alex Pridemore  1
Affiliations

Vodka and violence: alcohol consumption and homicide rates in Russia

William Alex Pridemore. Am J Public Health. 2002 Dec.

Abstract

In Russia, rates of alcohol consumption and homicide are among the highest in the world, and already-high levels increased dramatically after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Rates of both, however, vary greatly among Russia's 89 regions. We took advantage of newly available vital statistics and socioeconomic data to examine the regional covariation of drinking and lethal violence. Log-log models were employed to estimate the impact of alcohol consumption on regional homicide rates, controlling for structural factors thought to influence the spatial distribution of homicide rates. Results revealed a positive and significant relationship between alcohol consumption and homicide, with a 1% increase in regional consumption of alcohol associated with an approximately 0.25% increase in homicide rates. In Russia, higher regional rates of alcohol consumption are associated with higher rates of homicide.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
—Annual rates of (proxy) alcohol consumption and homicides in Russia, 1965–1996. Note. The proxy for alcohol consumption is the rate of deaths due to alcohol poisoning (see discussion of this measure in Methodology section).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
—Russian homicides per 100 000 population according to crime and mortality data, 1990–1999.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
—Scatterplot of the log of the regional homicide rates and the log of the regional alcohol poisoning mortality rates.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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