Women and Men who Committed Murder: Male/Female Psychopathic Homicides

Abstract

The present study was designed to compare gender differences in psychiatric diagnosis with the dimension of psychopathy in women and men who had attempted or committed homicide. The study samples consisted of 39 homicidal females and 48 homicidal males who were confined in one of Italy’s REMS or prison facilities in two southern provinces of Italy (Puglia and Basilicata). Assessment instruments included the SCID‐5, the PID‐5 IRF, and the PCL‐R. Each gender group was stratified according to the level of criminal responsibility for the homicidal offense (full, partial, absent), and after assessments, according to the degree of the psychopathic dimension. There were clear gender differences in homicidal individuals. Female offenders were less likely to have had a record of criminal charges/convictions or imprisonment, and their homicides were more often intrafamilial, victimizing especially of their children, whereas males targeted intimate partners and extrafamilial victims. In the entire group, there was an inverse relationship between the level of psychopathy and the personality disorder on one side, and the psychotic disturbance on the other. Factor 2 (lifestyle/antisocial dimension) of the PCL‐R was higher among the homicidal males, whereas females tended to score higher on Factor 1 (the interpersonal/affective dimension). Finally, if the psychopathic dimension is a qualifier for antisocial personality disorder, as indicated in DSM‐5, this appears to be less true for females who tend to have other personality disorders.

Forensic psychiatric evaluation of 187 homicidal assailants with and without a schizophrenia spectrum disorder: Clinical, criminological and behavioral characteristics

“…Confirming the different criminal patterns in homicides committed by men and women as reported by the authors in other research (Carabellese et al., 2020), it is interesting to note that the victims of female homicide are significantly younger than the victims of male homicides. Only a small percentage of the latter (5.3%) killed victims under the age of 14 and most of these victims were killed by women.…”

Intimate Partner Aggression Committed by Prison Inmates with Psychopathic Profile

“…Another limitation is that the sample only includes males, although almost all the works performed on this topic agree that, in the case of serious aggressions and even death within the couple, the aggressor is the male [ 14 ].…”

“…Before reviewing the literature more precisely, we note that some of the works focus on subjects diagnosed with psychopathy who were incarcerated after being convicted of attempted murder, others were convicted of homicide, others for both types of crimes [ 14 ], whereas other studies were performed with samples of students and the general population, usually focused on the dark personality [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. This study will include two types of subsample, that of prisoners diagnosed with psychopathy who have murdered their intimate partner, and those also diagnosed with psychopathy and convicted of the attempted murder of their partner.…”

“…Although all the works point out that psychopathy mostly manifests in males, who are usually the aggressors in IPA, some female psychopaths also assault males in situations of IPA. Thus, specify that female offenders are less likely to have a criminal record, are convicted to a lesser extent, are rarely convicted and imprisoned, and commit homicides with an idiosyncrasy because the victim is usually a member of their family, especially their children [ 14 ]. Moreover, according to these authors, although in males, the prediction of psychopathy as a very reliable indicator for diagnosing an antisocial personality disorder is almost completely fulfilled, this does not occur in women, as they tend to present other personality disorders.…”

“…We highlight another peculiarity concerning the concept of psychopathy itself. There is an inverse relationship between the level of psychopathy and personality disorder, on the one hand, and psychotic alteration on the other [ 14 ]. Besides, studies on psychopathy show that Factor 2 (lifestyle/antisocial dimension) of Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) was higher among homicidal men, whereas women tended to score higher on Factor 1 (interpersonal/affective dimension).…”