NCJ Number
99657
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: (1985) Pages: 171-178
Date Published
1985
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Clinical case histories of two juvenile girl murderers are presented to explore possible psychodynamic causes and compare them with a large series of boys who committed homicide.
Abstract
The 2 cases represent the only females in 50 cases of juvenile murderers studied in Massachusetts over the past 25 years. In the first, a 16-year-old girl put her father's pistol under her pilliow one night and shot her mother and sister the next morning at breakfast. She dropped the gun, spared one sister, and ran hysterically to the police station. Thereafter she maintained amnesia for the episode. The second case involved a 15-year-old girl who shot and killed a boy she scarcely knew. He was an enemy of her boyfriend and had been harassing her. The morning of the shooting, another boy gave her the gun with the message that she would be killed if she did not kill the victim first. Common to both girls were pervasive subjugation to their mothers together with a lack of support and caring, an inordinate exposure to overwhelming emotional forces, and disruptive life circumstances. One was a victim of incestuous behavior, while the other suffered physical abuse. These cases demonstrate that the dynamics of murder are different for girls than for boys. Six references are supplied.