Analysis of age-sex and deprivation stratified trends in assault deaths in Scotland (1974-2015) to identify age, period or cohort effects.

Mortality due to assault in Scotland is unequally felt, with young men living in the most deprived areas suffering the highest rates. There is a 15-year period effect up until 2006, impacting on young men as an age-period interaction, with no obvious cohort effects. Exploration of the demographics of criminological data may identify age, period or cohort effects among perpetrators of assault.