Personality characteristics of the female serial murderer

Abstract

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:198285 [] For AuthorsIf you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to review and compare information obtained for four female serial murder perpetrators, exploring possible personality features that make the female serial killer unique. As this is the first project to explore the personalities of female serial murderers through data collected from the offenders themselves, it is primarily an exploratory study. Design/methodology/approach -The data presented were collected as part of a larger project, which solicited participation from incarcerated, suspected serial murderers. Upon agreeing to participate, each potential participant's background was searched to ensure they met the definition of a serial murderer. The participants were sent a survey packet containing measures related to demographics, psychopathology, psychopathy, and personality features. These packets were sent to participants at their respective prisons, with a return envelope provided. Upon return, surveys were scored and analyzed to create a comprehensive profile of each offender. Findings -The subjects of this study each presented a unique personality profile as measured by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 and Millon Clinical Multiaxial Invetory-III. Three of the four participants did not appear to by psychopathic, which is not surprising given the low incidence of psychopathy in women. Originality/value -This study, while limited by the small sample size, provides the first data set of valid psychological measures collected through first-hand accounts with female serial murderers. Although the data presented did not display a single comprehensive profile indicative of a female serial murderer, it does provide a foundation for further research.

Female murderers who mutilate or dismember their victims: An exploration of patterns and sex differences

“…In those involving patriarchal norms, women are objectified and viewed as subordinate to the dominant male role. It has been proposed that, if this concept is infused, internalized and accepted by a woman, her sense of value is directly attached to the male figure, creating a dynamic in which her social status is determined by that very relationship, whether it is as a wife or as a mother [27, 28]. The dissolution of or threat to these relationships may be perceived as detrimental to a woman's social success, leading to efforts to sustain the dyad with the male figure.…”

Osobnostní charakteristiky odsouzených žen

“…V tomto ohledu je cenná studie Polišenské (2009) jejíž analýza je založena taktéž na dotazníku TCI-R. Přínosem by dále bylo porovnání osobnostních dimenzí Cloningerovy teorie s psychopatickými rysy. K tomuto účelu je především u recidivistů v zahraničních studiích hojně využíván dotazník PCL-R (Heinzen et al, 2011;Hildebrand & Culhane, 2015;Karlsson et al, 2016, Sturup et al, 2016. Z hlediska penitenciárního zacházení by mohl být velmi užitečný komparativní výzkum osobnostních charakteristik odsouzených žen.…”