Changing Patterns of Lethal Violence by Women:

Historically, studies of homicide by women have focused on battered women who kill an abusive partner in self-defense. This paper uses case descriptions from interviews with nine women incarcerated for homicide to demonstrate the need for more research in this area. Our analysis suggests that the literature has understated the number of women who kill for other reasons, and that the type of killing by women may be explained in part by the involvement of drugs and alcohol in the killing or in the life of the woman who has killed. We conclude that detailed, personal accounts of homicides by women need to be studied in order to better understand this phenomenon.