Female homicide crimes: A review of psycho-social determinants

Female murderers as a separate class of study, is not discussed much in the available literature on the subject. The male murderers and their exploits have been the popular subject for research, so much so, that in India, the National Crimes Records Bureau which has statistics of murders in the country does not even talk about murders committed by men and women, separately. It is the nurturing and the caring image of a woman which has been perpetrated in the popular media, and the women have been presented as very subdued, tamed and passive creatures in the drama of life. However, one keeps hearing about murders committed by females and tends to question the facts and the perceptions about women in society. While discussing murders committed by females it is the serial murders at the hands of woman which grab more attention due to the fear, intrigue and a sense of disbelief surrounding them. These murders may lead to building of an environment of fear, mistrust and chaos in the society. The paper aims to review the research on female killers regarding the psychosocial factors, i.e. their demography, their uniqueness in terms of personality features, their sexuality, the role of media, the role of gender stereotypes, and the role of leisure. These factors might be influencing the perceptions and understanding of female killers. The paper may help in dealing with female killers by enhancing our understanding about them. It may help in creating a base for taking preventive steps and in designing future interventions so that the number of female killers does not increase in future.