Lone Female Murderers: A Preliminary Typology

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

Female offending is an area of research that is often overlooked (Lev-Wisel, 2006) and typologies of female offenders remain undeveloped in comparison to those representing males. Few studies have focused on lone female perpetrators. In the current research murder cases were obtained from the Law Pages (2014) database. 49 cases were identified whereby a lone female murdered a single victim in England and Wales between 2008–2016. Offenders age ranged between 18 to 62 years old (M=36, SD=11.69); the victims ranged from 1 years old to 92 years old (M= 41.66, SD=24.82). 77.6% of these victims were male (n = 38) and 22.4% were female (n = 11). The majority of the sample (93.9%) the victims were known to the offender (n = 46). All of the male victims were known to the offender. The majority of the offenders were partners or ex-partners of their victim (45%). A preliminary typology utilising characteristic variables including: offender age, victim age, relationship, victim gender, method of killing, whether substances (alcohol/drugs) were present, and know prior convictions. Cluster analysis and discriminant analysis were conducted to develop a preliminary typology.

Authors

• Kerry John Rees, University of Gloucestershire, England

• Claire Ann Cooke, University of Gloucestershire, England

• Megan Williams, University of Gloucestershire, England