Abstract

This article analyzes deaths from violence in the municipality of Lanús, province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the period 1998-2002. Based on the framework provided by the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (Tenth Revision), a typology of deaths from violence was devised according to intent (accidents, homicides, suicides and undetermined) and to whether they involved the use of firearms or not. A “concealment” was identified in the analysis, which we termed “eclipse”, of firearm-related deaths in the undetermined type. It is necessary to revise the circumstances in which undetermined deaths occur. This process shows the logics behind mortality information systems, which prioritize intent over circumstance, giving rise to “eclipses”, as analyzed in this article. It is suggested that the analysis of deaths from violence, both in terms of intent and circumstances, would result in a better quality.