Due to the rarity of mass murder, scholars have focused almost exclusively on its individual-level risk factors, assuming that structural characteristics play a negligible role in the etiology of this infrequent but impactful crime. This study explores whether local structural factors influence the incidence rate of mass murder and its logical comparison group, homicide. Using information from a novel mass killing database as well as the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), two-level count regression models examine the county- and state-level factors that predict the number of mass murder (N = 549) and homicide incidents (N = 274,399) in 3,143 U.S. counties from 2000 to 2018. Results indicate that mass murder is more likely to occur in disadvantaged and racially/ethnically heterogeneous areas, similar to homicide in general. Future research should examine both perpetrators and their environments instead of assuming that mass murders are exclusively driven by individual-level factors.

由于大规模谋杀的罕见性，学者们几乎只关注其个人层面的风险因素，假设结构特征在这种罕见但有影响的犯罪的病因学中所起的作用可以忽略不计。本研究探讨局部结构因素是否影响大规模谋杀及其逻辑对照组凶杀的发生率。使用来自新的大规模杀戮数据库以及补充凶杀报告 (SHR) 的信息，两级计数回归模型检查了预测大规模谋杀 ( N = 549) 和凶杀事件数量的县级和州级因素。 ñ= 274,399)，从 2000 年到 2018 年在美国 3,143 个县发生。结果表明，大规模谋杀更有可能发生在弱势和种族/民族异质的地区，这与一般的凶杀案相似。未来的研究应该检查肇事者和他们的环境，而不是假设大规模谋杀完全是由个人层面的因素驱动的。