Moving Beyond The “Victim” Stereotype: Reevaluating (Gendered) Motivations For Female Homicide Offending Across The Victim-Offender Relationship

• In Event: Gender & Violent Offending

Abstract

Objectives. Test “the victim” narrative and agentic perspectives of female violence by examining gender differences in homicide offending, disaggregated by the victim-offender relationship (IPH vs. non-IPH).
Methods. Using data from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), logistic regression models compared the victim, offender, and situational characteristics of IPH and non-IPH incidents perpetrated by men (N = 35,868) and women (N = 5,146) in the United States from 2003 to 2021.
Results. While female IPH offenders were more likely to engage in defensive violence, women who killed outside their romantic relationships were largely similar to their male counterparts in their use of offensive and instrumental violence.
Conclusions. Consistent with agentic perspectives, the findings suggest that defensive violence is not a universal risk factor for women who kill. Future work must consider whether and how women’s violence is gendered across distinct contexts.

Authors

• Emma E. Fridel, Florida State University

• Kyle G. Knapp, Florida State University