Murderers are mostly men who are unmarried, broke

You’re probably aware that the vast majority of murders are committed by young men. But did you know that their victims are also mostly young men?
In general, murder rates are highest where law enforcement is ineffective, which creates what’s called ‘a culture of honour’, where men fiercely resist even the slightest disrespect. 

A killing generally starts over a matter of personal integrity, status, or a woman, usually in front of people that both men know. Neither’s willing to back down and a murder results. Mostly, the men involved are defending the only valuable thing they’ve got. A reputation for refusing to be pushed around.
So the vast majority of murders aren’t committed by evil people. Much more often, it’s just one young man killing another in a violent argument. By comparison, the number of murders committed by women is minimal.

Both young men will also almost always be unmarried and earning very little money. While wealthier, married men hardly take one’s life. 

Murder rates are also higher whenever there’s high-income inequality because a big difference between the haves and the have-nots makes poor men far more aggressive. The same young, unemployed, unmarried men also commit most of society’s violent crimes. Why’s that?

It’s because far more men than women die childless. Very few women have any real difficulty finding a mate, though he might not be the man of her dreams. But many young men can’t find a wife at all. It’s always been like that because a woman who wants children won’t marry a man with no prospects. Even if she has a good job herself. And so, instead, she becomes the second wife, mistress, or girlfriend of a richer man.

So, men who can’t find honest work turn to crime, in an attempt to become rich enough to attract a wife. It’s not about their morals, or how they were brought up. Wherever young men lose out to richer men in their search for a wife, crime rates are high. And the risk of getting caught and punished is a very little deterrent because having no children is a genetic dead end anyway.

So the instincts that lead young men to risk death in their search for a wife, make all the sense in the world. Others may be deterred by harsh laws and long prison terms. But not young men without wives.
So how can societies reduce violent crime?

Passing stricter laws simply makes no difference at all. Neither does moralising. Having an efficient police force does help a little, as does encourage monogamous marriages, though that’s never stopped women from becoming rich men’s mistresses. Because the real cure is economic policies that create jobs and reduce the differences between rich and poor.

Especially, the sort of jobs that enable a young man to earn a decent honest living, attract a wife and start a family. And as an additional benefit, there’ll also be far fewer mistresses and second wives!