Freedom of the Press and Personal Violence: A Cross-National Study of Suicide and Homicide

Summary It was predicted that nations with a free press would have relatively high suicide rates and relatively low homicide rates. From an examination of data from a sample of 41 nations, it was found instead that nations with a free press tended to have a higher homicide rate than nations without a free press, but a similar suicide rate. These results did not support the theory proposed by Henry and Short to account for differences in the suicide and homicide rates between nations.