Criminology

 TransnationalInternational Crimes
This paper will identify three countries with high homicide rates and three countries with low homicide rates. Then economic, socio-economic, educational and other demographic indicators will be used to relate to these countries homicide rates. Any relationships between these factors and homicide rates will be explained in the end.

Countries Selected and their Homicide Rates
The countries with the highest murder rates that have been selected are Colombia with the homicide rate of 69.98 per 100,000 of population, Honduras with the homicide rate of 154.02 per 100,000 of population and Swaziland with homicide rate of 93.32 per 100,000 of population (MapXL Inc., 2009).
The countries with the lowest murder rates that have been selected are Saudi Arabia with the homicide rate of 0.71 per 100,000 of population, Oman with the homicide rate of 0.91 per 100,000 of population and Senegal with homicide rate of 0.33 per 100,000 of population (MapXL Inc., 2009)

Level of Education and Homicide Rates
Colombia which has one of the highest murder rates has literacy rate of 93 in urban areas and 67 in rural areas (U.S. Department of State, 2009). The compulsory education is 9 years but in rural areas only 5 years are offered. Literacy level in Honduras in almost 83 and compulsory period education is 6 years (U.S. Department of State, 2009). There is no compulsory education in Swaziland and the level of literacy is 82 (U.S. Department of State, 2009).
Saudi Arabia which has one of the lowest homicide rates has literacy level of 78.8. Sultanate of Oman has literacy level of around 80 (U.S. Department of State, 2009). Senegal which is another country with low homicide rate has literacy level of around 59 (U.S. Department of State, 2009). Attendance rate of middle school and secondary school is only 26.5 and 11 (U.S. Department of State, 2009). Therefore there is no consistent relationship between levels of education and homicide rates as Colombia has a very high educational level but still the murder rate is very high and the other countries such as Oman, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland and Honduras have almost same level of education and literacy levels but still the murder rates are very different.

Economic Indicators and Homicide Rates
Yes there is a consistent relationship between economic indicators     and homicide rates of the given countries. The GDP per capita of Colombia was 9,200 in 2008, unemployment rate was 11 and almost half the population lives below the poverty line (CIA, 2009). In 2008, Honduras had a GDP per capita of 4,400, unemployment rate of 3.5 and 50.7 of the population lived below the poverty line (CIA, 2009). Swazi had per capita income of 4,400 in 2008, 40 of the population was unemployed and almost 70 of the population was below the poverty line (CIA, 2009).
Saudi Arabia had a GDP per capita of 20,500 in 2008, unemployment rate of 12 (CIA, 2009) and none of the people are living below the poverty line. Oman had GDP per capita of 20,200 in 2008, unemployment level of 15 and none of the population was living below the poverty line (CIA, 2009). Therefore there is a high correlation between the unemployment rate and homicide rate in the population. Poverty level also has a positive relationship with homicide rate. The GDP per capita has a consistent negative relationship with homicide rate of a country. The higher the GDP per capita, lower the homicide rate.

Technological and Social Indicators related to Homicide level
The number of television broadcast stations, internet hosts, cell phone users and internet users are the main indicators of technological advancement in a country and are related to the homicide rate of a country. Honduras has 11 television broadcast stations, 16,000 internet hosts, 6 million cell phone users and 700,000 internet users as of 2008 (CIA, 2009). In Swaziland, there are 12 television broadcast stations, 2,600 internet hosts, 0.5 million cell phone users and 48,000 internet users as of 2008 (CIA, 2009).
Saudi Arabia has 117 television broadcast stations, 0.5 million internet hosts, 36 million cell phone users and 7.7 million internet users as of 2008 (CIA, 2009). Senegal has 1.02 million internet users, 5.4 million cell phone users although it is a very small country (CIA, 2009). Oman has 3.2 million cell phone users and 0.5 million internet users despite of its small population (CIA, 2009).
Therefore some of the technological advancements of a country also have a role to play in the homicide rate of the country.

Explanations of the Relationships
The main reason for the relationship between the education level of a country and homicide rate is that when the general population is highly educated, their involvement in drug addictions and other crimes is lower which lead to lower homicide levels. In a country where the general population is not educated much, the homicide rates are high because less educated people are more likely to get frustrated with their lives and get involved in murdering someone.
Economic indicators such as poverty and unemployment rate are highly related to the homicide rate of a country. This is because when there is high unemployment in a country, people are more likely to get involved in crimes such as robberies, burglaries and gang wars which are the drivers of murder rate. When most of the population is below the poverty line, this shows that most of the population does not have enough money to fulfill their basic needs, so the population is more frustrated and have issues in their lives. This motivates them to kill as there is nothing to look forward to.
Higher levels of technological advancements in a country show that the country is progressing and the people have more facilities than before. Therefore the countries with low homicide rates have a better communication infrastructure and entertainment which causes them to stay away from crimes which may cause homicide.