NCJ Number
75144
Journal
Death Education Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1979) Pages: 1-9
Date Published
1979
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Findings are reported from a study of 135 female murderers who were interviewed to obtain information on subjects' backgrounds, events precipitating the killings, subjects' attitudes toward death, and the relationship of the murderer to the victim.
Abstract
Informal interviews were conducted with the subjects, who were inmates in a Florida prison, over a 2-year period. The average subject was 35 years old, poorly educated, with few job skills, and was generally placid, withdrawn, and nonassertive in prison. The subjects killed their victims during domestic quarrels in an attempt to resolve a conflict, assert power, or protect themselves. None of the women expressed guilt or remorse about their crime. They generally viewed their crimes as acts of self-preservation or justified revenge, so they considered their imprisonment unfair. The subjects considered violence a normal aspect of survival behavior. No sympathy or sense of value lost was expressed toward the victims. They were viewed as unwanted objects requiring elimination. The killings were viewed as a means of solving a personal problem. Ways to prevent violence from becoming learned and accepted as a regular strategy for dealing with problems are discussed. Ten references are provided.