There is a copious amount of differences between men and women, but what about a difference in violent behavior? Is it possible for women to be just as brutally violent as a man? Many researchers have wondered the same exact thing and have started to explore what exactly constitutes a violent woman. Since violence is a very broad term that holds more than one meaning, it is difficult to define the term “violent women” in the first place. However, there are extreme cases of violence, such as serial killing, that makes it a bit easier to compare and contrast men and women. Extreme violent tendencies between men and women might not be that different after all. Violent women are not a new breed of women. In fact, they’ve been around longer than
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In “The Social Construction of a Serial Killer,” Ross Bartels and Ceri Parsons (2009) focus on the attributes of a serial killer and what pattern of violence they seem to follow. This can be useful in determining whether a woman can actually fit the so-called male prototype of a serial killer despite their many differences. Since men are seen as the norm in this area of violence, as the female to male killer ratio is one to six, both researchers attempted to match up certain qualities to see if they coincide. According to article, in order for society to even give someone the title of a serial killer, they need to have killed at least three people on separate occasions over a significant length of time (Bartels & Parsons, 2009). This definition varies a good amount, as it depends on the different perspectives of what makes a serial killer. However, this definition was the belief that serial killers were, and possibly still are, thought as “sexual sadistic killers.” Nearly all of the information on male serial killers had shown that they had listed one of their key motives as being sexual. They found their victims to be arousing and had the desire to have sexual relations with them either before or after they killed them. This motive is why many have objected to labeling females as serial killers because it is extremely rare that their motives be sexual. In the research article, …show more content…
In the article “Female Serial Murderers: Directions for Future Research on a Hidden Population,” researcher Elizabeth A. Gurian found that the extremely violent woman does not kill alone. The woman who is more aggressive often takes a more submissive woman with her to help her kill. Therefore if they get caught, the aggressive woman can act as a victim and portray the submissive woman as the perpetrator. As an example, there was a female killing team in the late eighties and early nineties, made up of two nurses who liked to kill their patients (Ramsland, 2007). These two women are known as Catherine May Wood and Gwendolyn Gail Graham. As described by her ex-husband, Wood was moody, sensitive and unpredictable. After their split, Wood has gone on to become Graham’s lover. They worked at a place called Alpine Manor, where the majority of the people who went there for care were severe cases. Therefore the deaths were not thought of as unlikely. Wood confessed to people that she was not originally a participant in the murders, but was coerced into helping by Graham as Graham made killing exciting. However, after the two women had gone their separate ways they were caught and forced to face charges. Graham ended up being convicted of five counts of first-degree murder while Wood was able to get away. To this day there is some speculation that Wood was the
In “The Social Construction of a Serial Killer,” Ross Bartels and Ceri Parsons (2009) focus on the attributes of a serial killer and what pattern of violence they seem to follow. This can be useful in determining whether a woman can actually fit the so-called male prototype of a serial killer despite their many differences. Since men are seen as the norm in this area of violence, as the female to male killer ratio is one to six, both researchers attempted to match up certain qualities to see if they coincide. According to article, in order for society to even give someone the title of a serial killer, they need to have killed at least three people on separate occasions over a significant length of time (Bartels & Parsons, 2009). This definition varies a good amount, as it depends on the different perspectives of what makes a serial killer. However, this definition was the belief that serial killers were, and possibly still are, thought as “sexual sadistic killers.” Nearly all of the information on male serial killers had shown that they had listed one of their key motives as being sexual. They found their victims to be arousing and had the desire to have sexual relations with them either before or after they killed them. This motive is why many have objected to labeling females as serial killers because it is extremely rare that their motives be sexual. In the research article, …show more content…
In the article “Female Serial Murderers: Directions for Future Research on a Hidden Population,” researcher Elizabeth A. Gurian found that the extremely violent woman does not kill alone. The woman who is more aggressive often takes a more submissive woman with her to help her kill. Therefore if they get caught, the aggressive woman can act as a victim and portray the submissive woman as the perpetrator. As an example, there was a female killing team in the late eighties and early nineties, made up of two nurses who liked to kill their patients (Ramsland, 2007). These two women are known as Catherine May Wood and Gwendolyn Gail Graham. As described by her ex-husband, Wood was moody, sensitive and unpredictable. After their split, Wood has gone on to become Graham’s lover. They worked at a place called Alpine Manor, where the majority of the people who went there for care were severe cases. Therefore the deaths were not thought of as unlikely. Wood confessed to people that she was not originally a participant in the murders, but was coerced into helping by Graham as Graham made killing exciting. However, after the two women had gone their separate ways they were caught and forced to face charges. Graham ended up being convicted of five counts of first-degree murder while Wood was able to get away. To this day there is some speculation that Wood was the