Summary: Author Ted Goertzel discusses his article from the February 2013 issue of Homicide Studies, Homicide Booms and Busts: A Small-N Comparative Historical Study. Homicide booms and busts are long-term phenomena that can best be studied with comparative historical methods. They cannot easily be explained by enduring socioeconomic inequalities because these persist during boom and bust periods alike. Historical changes that may help to lower homicide rates in the long run sometimes cause homicide booms in the short term. Modern policing methods have helped to end homicide booms without first resolving underlying social problems, but this may be possible only when the conditions are propitious. http://hsx.sagepub.com/content/17/1/59.abstract
