The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

346 Chapter 10

TABLE 10.4 AGE-ADJUSTED DEATH RATES (PER 100,000) FOR THE LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH IN 2007

Cause of Death All M/F B/W H/W

Heart disease 190.9 1.5 1.3 .7

Cancer 178.4 1.4 1.2 .6

Cerebrovascular disease 42.2 1.0 1.5 .8

Chronic lower respiratory disease 40.8 1.3 .7 .4

Accidents 40.0 2.1 .9 .7

Alzheimer’s disease 22.7 .7 .8 .6

Diabetes mellitus 22.5 1.4 2.1 1.5

Pneumonia and influenza 16.2 1.4 1.2 .8

Kidney disease 14.5 1.4 2.2 .9

Suicide 11.3 3.9 .4 .4

Septicemia 11.0 1.2 2.2 .8

Liver disease 9.1 2.2 .8 1.6

Hypertension and renal disease 7.4 1.0 2.5 1.0

Parkinson’s disease 6.4 2.2 .5 .6

Homicide 6.1 3.8 5.7 2.5

Source: Xu, Kochanek, Murphy, and Tejada-Vera (2010). M/F 5 Male to female ratio; B/W 5 Black

to White ratio; H/W 5 Hispanic to non-Hispanic White ratio.

15 to 24, the leading cause of death is

homicide. Although HIV is not in the top 10

causes of overall mortality, it is among the

top 5 for some subgroups of people: Black

men and women between the ages of 25 and

44 and Hispanic women between the ages of

35 and 44. Sex differences in accidents, sui-

cide, and homicide account for most of the

sex difference in mortality among younger

people. Among older people, heart disease

and cancer account for most of the sex dif-

ference in mortality.

Another noteworthy feature of Table

10.4 is that the mortality rate for Black peo-

ple is higher than that for White people for 9

of the 15 leading causes of death. The largest

differences appear for homicide, hyperten-

sion, kidney disease, septicemia, and diabe-

tes. Black people have less than half the rate

of suicide and Parkinson’s disease as White

people. By contrast, the mortality rate for

Hispanics is less than that of non-Hispanic

Whites, with the exception of diabetes, ho-

micide, liver disease, and hypertension.

Crime Statistics

Men are more likely than women to com-

mit violent crimes, and men are more likely

than women to be the victims of violent

crimes, with the exception of rape. That is,

men are more likely than women to be as-

saulted, robbed, threatened with violence,

and killed. For homicide, both perpetra-

tor and victim are male in 65% of the cases

(U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bu-

reau of Investigation, 2009). In the year

2008, men comprised 72% of murder vic-

tims and 90% of murder perpetrators. It is

rare that women commit murder. Imagine

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