NCJ Number
153865
Journal
Journal of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Research Consortium Volume: 1 Dated: (August 1994) Pages: 45-54
Date Published
1994
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study developed a profile of 70 women incarcerated in Oklahoma for murder, manslaughter, or accomplice to murder, and compared their characteristics to a larger sample of 479 women incarcerated for various other offenses.
Abstract
On average, females incarcerated for murder were 31 years old, white, divorced with two children, had a high school degree or equivalent, and considered themselves middle-class. The majority of respondents were reportedly abused physically and emotionally during childhood and adulthood. Nonetheless, there was wide variation among the respondents, with many women convicted of murder coming from backgrounds characterized by poverty, teenage pregnancy, and substance abuse. The average female inmate incarcerated for murder was similar to women incarcerated for other offenses in terms of age, demographic family background, age at first arrest and incarceration, use of alcohol, and self-esteem. However, they were more likely to be white and middle-class, to be visited regularly by children and other family members, and to have been abused; female murderers were less likely than other female inmates to have been arrested as a juvenile. 4 tables, 1 note, and 15 references