Homicidal Women, Personality, Crime Dynamics and Modus Operandi

Abstract

Female Violent OffendersWomen are relatively less likely to be associated With a violent behavior and culturally they still benefit of a stereotype of being characterized by nurturing, mothering and caring, indeed when women commit violent crimes society tends to associate this behavior to a mental health problem rather than to a predisposition or a will to commit a violence Violence is less likely to be associated with female figures rather is strongly associated to male figures. Truth is that "violence is a universal pattern of living organisms. All organisms fight to eat and against being eaten" [1], women are able to act aggressively as their male counterparts. In western countries women who kill are on average 10% of murderers. In Italy women represented in the prison system account for about the 5.4% and specifically 2% of homicidal prisoners acquitted and condemned [2].Female violent offenders are an understudied population [3], previous researches focused on typologies of victims of women such as children or partners, domestic context within crime happened or the correlation with psychiatric disorders [4][5][6]. Researchers demonstrated that women also injure their victims to achieve control [7,8], in terms of motivation to commit the offense, women kill mostly in self-defense or the offence is related to an economical factor or to jealousy [9]. PersonalityPersonality could be described as set of characteristics that derive from psychic dynamics that express in behavioral features as a product of the constellations of normal or pathological elements. Personality is a set of distinct and distinctive thoughts, emotions, behaviors that define the personal style with which the individual interacts with the physical and social environment [10].There is no universally accepted definition of personality; the term is used very broadly and in different theoretical constructs. Personality is not a phenomenon clearly defined, according to Kluckhohn & Murray "every person is like all other persons, like some other persons, and like no other person", individuals are organically integrated systems within the psychological domain this intrinsic cohesion is not just a construct but a substantial unity that is personality [11]. Disorders of personality are described in negative terms, Individuals with personality disorders have traits that influence their perception of feelings toward the environment altering their behaviour. Differential patterns in personality have been explored extensively, present study applies the theoretical frame of personology developed by Millon [12]. Socio-biology explores the interface between human functioning and Homicidal Women, Personality, Crime Dynamics and Modus Operandi Paola Giannetakis * Department of Criminology and Applied Behavioral Analysis, Link Campus University, Rome, Italy AbstractViolent offending is the result of the combination of personality, cognitive and emotional elements that shape interpersonal styles. Violent aggression is a form of interpersonal interaction in whic...