NCJ Number
111600
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1988) Pages: 3-20
Date Published
1988
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Police records were analyzed for 136 women arrested for homicide in Detroit during 1982 and 1983 to examine offender and victim social and demographic characteristics and relationships, circumstances of the offense, and arrest disposition.
Abstract
The typical female homicide offender is a locally born, black, Protestant, Detroit resident in her thirties. She is married (legally or common law), living with her family, undereducated, unemployed, and a welfare recipient with a prior arrest record. Typically, the crime represented the culmination of a series of arguments or fights with her slightly older current or former husband or lover, resulting in a defensive gunshot in a private residence on a weekend between 2:00 p.m. and 1:59 a.m. A majority of cases were victim precipitated, and available data indicate that alcohol was a frequent component of the homicide. Over a third of the offenders were denied warrant by the prosecutor, and 81.8 percent of offenders for whom court disposition data were available were convicted of murder or manslaughter. 7 notes and 25 references.