NCJ Number
171092
Journal
American Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 20 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1996) Pages: 207-224
Date Published
1996
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Qualitative and quantitative data on 36 females arrested for homicide in a southern, non-urban city between 1975 and 1992 were analyzed to explore the demographic, social, legal, and offense characteristics of female homicide offenders as well as the events leading to the murder.
Abstract
The research used a case-history approach for all women who committed murder in Tuscaloosa County (Ala.), except for those arrested for vehicular homicide. The variables included race, age, employment, marital status, victim-offender relationship, whether the offender was a mother, history of domestic assault, domestic abuse at the time of the murder, type of domestic assault, alcohol use, victim precipitation, type of weapon used, witnesses, prior criminal history, and several others. Results revealed that the typical female murderer was a 33-year-old black mother who was married, living with her husband and children, unemployed, and uneducated and who killed her intimate partner in an emotionally charged act of violence in a private residence on a Friday or Saturday night. Findings indicated an offender profile that was consistent with earlier studies focusing on female murderers in large urban areas. Tables and 40 references (Author abstract modified)