NCJ Number
169176
Date Published
1996
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes the research and findings of a study of female homicide offenders in New York State.
Abstract
The study involved interviews with 215 incarcerated women convicted of killing 237 victims. Seventeen of the cases involved multiple victims. Approximately 44 percent of the victims were sexual intimates, children in the care of the offender (usually offspring), or other family members. One-third of the victims were acquaintances, and fewer than a quarter were strangers. The women generally reported high levels of childhood abuse; women who killed sexual intimates generally reported lower levels of childhood abuse than other women interviewed. Women convicted of killing sexual intimates and children most often reported physical abuse by sexual intimates as adults. More than 40 percent of the women believed that drug and alcohol involvement contributed to the occurrence of the homicide; however, few of the women who killed children viewed substance use as a contributing factor. Drug and alcohol use patterns varied by the type of homicide offender. Women convicted of killing sexual intimates and children least often reported using alcohol or drugs or being "high" at the time of the homicide. Women who killed sexual intimates usually reported that they killed to protect themselves or their children. One-fourth of the cases with stranger victims involved theft. The homicides were most often committed with knives or other cutting instruments. 10 tables and 28 references