Gender Differences among Male and Female Parent Killers: Motivational and Crime Scene Behavioral Aspects

• In Event: Poster Session I

Abstract

Parricide, the killing of parents by children, is one of the rarest types of murder. Studies have shown that most perpetrators of parricide are sons, are psychotic, and use violent methods to murder the victim. Although studies have examined factors associated with parricide, research investigating characteristics of male parricide versus female parricide is scant. Therefore, this study seeks to fill in this gap. It is hypothesized that firearms are more frequently used to kill fathers, whereas knives are more frequently used to kill mothers. The study uses an adolescent and adult sample from Southern California. It is a four-group design (male matricide, male patricide, female matricide, female patricide) that will include 20 cases (n = 5 for each group) occurring between 1990 and 2016. Data are collected from news publications and offenders’ court files. Preliminary pilot analysis indicates group differences in weapon used (χ2 [12] = 20.00, p = .067), with higher proportions of stabbing combinations among male matricidal offenders, higher proportions of beating combinations among male patricidal offenders, and higher proportions of firearms usage among female matricidal offenders. Additional preliminary analyses did not suggest group differences in homicide motivation. Findings could have implications for research, treatment, and risk assessment.

Authors

• Claudia Aguilar, California State University, Long Beach

• Adam Weisman, University of Southern California

• Robert Schug, California State University, Long Beach