Female Juvenile Homicide Offenders: Biological and Psychological Factors Leading to Murder

• In Event: Female Delinquency: Homicide, Delinquency Transmission, Hidden Crime and Justice Interventions

Abstract

This presentation begins by highlighting the involvement of juvenile females in murder arrests in the United States. Gender differences in victim, offender, and case variables are synthesized. Given recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases dealing with juvenile offenders, attention focuses on biological and psychological factors that contribute to girls engaging in lethal violence. Childhood trauma is discussed as a risk factor, given its effects on cognitive, psychological, emotional, and social development. Case studies of girls involved in murder are used to illustrate how childhood trauma and its sequelae contributed to their homicidal behavior.

Authors

• Kathleen M. Heide, University of South Florida

• Eldra P. Solomon, Center for Mental Health Education, Tampa, FL