Testing Existing Classifications of Serial Murder Considering Gender: An Exploratory Analysis of Solo Female Serial Murderers

摘要

Serial murder is a genre of crime that has received a great deal of media and academicnattention, yet, serial murder committed by women has only begun to garner a portionnof this attention within the last 15 years. This study examines the reliability ofnKelleher and Kelleher’s classification rubric, the only classification system developednfor female serial murderers, as well as considering Hickey’s classification ofnserial offenders by location. Other variables associated with homicide researchnhave also been examined to determine their roles in both these crimes and classifyingnoffenders. The current research will demonstrate that offender motivation is notnan ideal basis for the classification of female serial murderers, who tend to defynsimple or singular classification within existing typologies. The other variables analysednindicate that victim–offender relationship and victim approach are important tonunderstanding these female offenders and their crimes, as well as the possiblendevelopment of more accurate classification systems. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley &nSons, Ltd.