Citation

Carach C, Mouzos J, Grabosky PN. Homicide Stud. 2002; 6(2): 109-127.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1088767902006002002

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Few crimes command as much attention as mass murder. Depending on their magnitudeand context, some of these incidents become enshrined as landmark historical events.Some give rise to substantial policy change. One such event in Australia was the PortArthur Massacre that claimed 35 lives in 1996. Using a disaggregation strategy andintervention analysis, this article explores the impact of the Port Arthur massacre onsubsequent homicides in Australia. The results of the analysis indicate that the PortArthur incident appears to have had no lasting effect on homicide in Australia. However,there was an immediate increase in firearm homicides during the 5 days following themassacre. After this sudden increase, the incidence of homicide resumed its long-termdownward trend. This sudden increase can be interpreted as evidence of a contagioneffect, with the significant response by the Australian Government contributing to theincidence of homicide resuming its long-term trend, rather than continuing to increase.