Homicide is the 12th leading cause in absolute number of deaths in the United States. Research has suggested that: (1) minorities have a greater homicide risk than do Anglo-Americans; (2) males are much more likely than females to be homicide victims; (3) the highest overall homicide rate occurs between the ages of 25 and 39; (4) among minorities, the lower the socioeconomic status, the higher the risk of homicide victimization; (5) most homicides occur within a circumscribed geographic area whose population is overcrowded, undereducated, and poor; (6) homicides occur more frequently in the home than in any other setting; (7) firearms, especially handguns, are the most frequently used means of committing homicides; and (8) most victims and offenders are acquainted and many are related. Research on bereavement suggests that homicide bereavement is more severe than bereavement for suicide, natural death, or accidental death. Future research into homicide should address the areas of ethnicity, sex, age, personality, timing of the purchase and loading of firearms in relation to the homicide, alcohol and drug use by offenders and victims, domestic violence, and friend and acquaintance homicide. The homicide research to date has demonstrated that, when studying risk, all victims cannot be grouped together. Ethnicity and the relationship between the offender and victim are two important distinctions that future research on homicide needs to make. A three-page reference list is provided. (NB)