Homicide has become a major social problem in Brazil in the last two decades. In Greater Metropolitan São Paulo, Southeast Brazil, the proportional incidence of male homicides increased from 35 to 121 (x 10-5) from 1979 to 1998. This study presents the trend in this phenomenon using a set of three-dimensional figures. We show both the absolute number and proportional incidence of male deaths by homicide and the natural logarithm of the male/female relative risk of homicide for Greater Metropolitan São Paulo from 1979 to 1998. Seven 3D figures show the homicide trend by age, sex, and year. The figures show the main trends in homicide distribution in the male population during the study period: a clear predominance among adolescents and young adults, a systematic and sharp increase in that same age range, a systematic spread to the lower (below-18) and higher (above-30) age groups, and a non-negligible incidence above the age of 40.
Homicide; Incidence; Violence
