Twenty-eight per cent of homicides are among friends and acquaintances. This is less than among intimates and family combined, but is nevertheless significant in that it involves over a quarter of all homicides. In other countries, for example, the United States, Greece and Canada, friends and acquaintances account for almost half of all homicides.
The most significant factors relating to homicides among friends and acquaintances is that there is a single victim and a single offender, that the offender is nearly always male and that the victim is also mostly male. Most take place within a residential location with alcohol being present, and often both victim and offender have been drinking. The preferred weapon is a knife or other sharp implement.
Friends and acquaintances is a very broad category. This paper disaggregates the categories and suggests that policy work ought to be focused separately.