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

Predicted that nations with a free press would have relatively high suicide rates and relatively low homicide rates. From an examination of data from 41 nations, it was found that nations with a free press had a higher homicide rate than nations without a free press but a similar suicide rate. Results do not support the theory proposed by A. Henry and J. Short (1954) to account for differences in the suicide and homicide rates between nations.