Women who kill. A sociopsychological study

An Empirical Classification of Female Offenders

The purpose of the present investigation was threefold: ( 1 ) to develop an empirical taxonomy of female offenders; (2) to relate these findings to empirical taxonomies of male offenders; and (3) to establish the occurrence of a personality type among female offenders approximating that called the psychopath. The women were awaiting trial in a correctional institution and approximately 94% had convictions previous to their current arrest. Personality profiles of these women were subjected to a cluster analysis, and four distinct profile types emerged, classifying three-quarters of the sample. The four types were tentatively identified as being characteristic of primary psychopaths, secondary or neurotic psychopaths, Megargee's overcontrolled personality type, and normal criminals. Similarities with previous research on both female and male offenders were emphasized, and one difference in the nondiscriminating power of the extraversion dimension was noted. The importance of further research with female offenders, and in particular, female psychopaths was stressed. High hostility scores for the entire sample were noted and an interpretation was suggested.

Black Females and Lethal Violence: Has Time Changed the Circumstances under Which They Kill?

Increases in lethal violence, the disproportionate representation of blacks as victims and offenders, and the more active participation and redefined roles of women in various aspects of life, makes the study of black female behavior in lethal acts of violence essential and important. The question of whether social changes in American society, specifically the women's rights movement, have impacted the circumstances or situations under which black females murder is examined. Secondary data on 119 black female homicide offenders and survey data on nine additional offenders were gathered through the project, “Black Homicide and the Urban Environment.” Analysis indicates that the circumstances surrounding the homicide incidents are still congruent with Wolfgang's findings [1], however, many changes appear to be occurring. It appears that if these changes continue for another decade Wolfgang's theory may no longer serve as an appropriate explanation for black female behavior in acts of lethal violence.

Rorschachs of women who commit homicide

For a majority of the women who kill, the victim is a family member; the most frequent is a spouse, and the woman is very frequently a battered woman. Clinical reports on battered women suggest a set of psychological symptoms that develops out of spousal abuse (i.e., pervasive anxiety, hyperalertness, impaired memory and concentration, a narrowed focus on signs of danger, constricted affect, development of chronic psychophysiological illnesses, and pervasive feelings of hopelessness and helplessness). Psychological tests have not been systematically used to assess or document these psychological symptoms. The present study employed the Rorschach to assess the psychological functioning of 28 battered women who killed their battering spouses. The Rorschach records displayed cognitive constriction, a lack of internal resources for problem solving, an ambitensive and passive problem-solving style, intense and poorly modulated affect, poor scanning of the stimulus field, and unconventional reality testing. The Rorschach protocols of this group showed strong similarities to those of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Common psychological effects of the experience of inescapable violence are suggested.

Canadian Drug Policies: Irrational, Futile and Unjust

Protection of individual freedom and civil liberties is highly valued in Canada. Yet, as a society, Canadians allow the erosion of these rights in the service of the War on Drugs. Ostensibly, this war is waged in order to protect society at large, and to protect individuals from themselves. However, the harm to society and to individuals resulting from our drug control policies is, in fact, greater than the benefits which drug policy legislators would have us believe are achievable. Through these policies, we are condoning a war of economics, politics, and power, while simultaneously sacrificing our societal and individual rights, rather than supporting a rational effort toward lessening the abuse of drugs.

Psychological characteristics of over- and undercontrolled violent offenders

Megargee (1966, 1973) has predicted a number of concomitant social, behavioral, and psychological differences between chronically undercontrolled and chronically overcontrolled violent individuals. Attempts to validate his theory, however, have resulted in seriously inconsistent findings, possibly because of the use of a measure to classify violent subjects that is of seemingly dubious validity--the Overcontrolled Hostility (OH) Scale (Megargee, Cook, & Mendelsohn, 1967). The present study used a different strategy--the classification of subjects by expert raters on the basis of extensive case history information--to compare overcontrolled violent, undercontrolled violent, and nonviolent criminal offenders on a number of psychometric measures (16PF, Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire, Picture Situation Test, and the OH Scale). The findings were broadly consistent with predictions derived from Megargee's theory. Contrary to expectation, however, the nonviolent group did not obtain scores intermediate to the other two groups, but was statistically indistinguishable from the undercontrolled group, leaving a question as to the appropriateness of conceptualizing the typology in terms of over- and undercontrol of hostility and suggesting the necessity for some revision of the theory.

Women who kill their parents

The literature on parricide is reviewed with special reference to women. Seventeen female parricides (14 matricides, 3 patricides) were identified: in a remand prison (11), a Special Hospital (5), and a Regional Secure Unit (1). Six were schizophrenic, five had psychotic depression, three had personality disorders, and one was alcoholic. Two of the patricides had no psychiatric disorder but retaliated against violent fathers. Regardless of psychiatric diagnosis, matricides were mostly single, socially isolated women in mid-life, living alone with a domineering mother in a mutually dependent but hostile relationship. Similar characteristics are found in male matricides, who are predominantly schizophrenic. It is suggested that these features are of greater significance in matricide than the specific form of psychiatric disorder. Compared with filicides, matricides were significantly older, were single, and more often suffered from mental illness and substance abuse. Attention is drawn to the possible homicidal risk associated with delusions of poisoning and hypochondriacal delusions.

The female offender: a Canadian study

Consecutive female admissions to the Winnipeg Remand Centre were studied and data concerning personal history, family background, psychological factors and mental health were recorded. An effort was made to determine a typical profile of female offenders and relate this to the alleged offences. Our data failed to identify what has been described by others as the "new female criminal".

A study of young-age and mid-life homicidal women admitted to a psychiatric hospital for pre-trial evaluation

The authors compared a group of young female homicidal offenders with a group of middle-aged homicidal women as to demographic data, psychopathology, physical disorders and type of victims chosen. Young women tend to have low socioeconomic status, have antisocial personality disorder, and/or schizophrenia as psychiatric diagnoses and most likely kill their children, while mid-life women tend to have slightly higher socioeconomic status, suffer from affective disorder and alcoholism and have more frequent physical disorders and most likely murder their spouses. A significant finding noted among mid-life women is the high frequency of physical abuse by husbands who later become their homicide victims. Treatment implications of these findings are noted.