Female Aggression

Helen Gavin is Director of Graduate Education at the University of Huddersfield, UK, where she  also lectures in Forensic and Criminal Psychology Previously, she was Head of Psychology at the University of the West of England, UK. Her publications include The Essence of Cognitive Psychology (1998), Understanding Research Methods & Statistics in Psychology (2008),  Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll: Psychological, Legal and Cultural Examinations of Sex and Sexuality (2010) and  Criminological and Forensic Psychology (2014)  Theresa Porter is a forensic psychologist currently practicing in Connecticut, USA. She worked for the Federal Bureau of Prisons for nearly a decade where she had extensive experience with female offenders. She lectures and publishes on violence by women, including Infanticide and Neonaticide: A Review of 40 Years of Research Literature on Incidence and Causes (with Helen Gavin; 2010), Woman as molester: Implications for society (2010), A Case of Factitious Paedophilia (with Mark D. Feldman, 2011) and Hits Like a Girl; Women who Batter their Partners (2011).

• Preface ixAcknowledgements xi1 Theories, Research and Misconceptions about Female Aggression 1Introduction 1Aggression and Women 2Violent Crime and Women 5Theories of Aggression 8Theories based on biological difference 8Environmental factors 18Psychological models 19Measuring aggression 262 The Evolution of Aggression 29Darwinism and Sociobiology 29The Naked Ape – Was She in the Jungle or the Sea? 31The Evolution of Aggression and the Archaeology of War 32Intersexual vs Intrasexual Aggression 33Conclusion 363 Indirect Aggression 38Indirect Aggression in Girls and Teens 39Women and Indirect Aggression 404 Child Abuse and Neglect by Women 44Introduction 44Prevalence 45Mental Illness 48Social Learning and Own Abuse History 49Antisocial Mothers 50Other Factors in Child Abuse 52Failure to Protect 53Abusive Mothers’ Perspective on Their Children 54Recidivism 57Effects of Abuse on Children 57Conclusion 595 Intimate Partner Violence by Women 61Introduction 61Prevalence of Women’s Violence Against Heterosexual Partners 64Prevalence of Women’s Violence Against Homosexual Partners 67Severity and Injury 67Recidivism 68Women’s Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking 68Intimate Partner Violence by Women Resulting in Homicide 69Intimate Partner Violence Initiation vs Self-Defence 70Anger, Communication and Control 71Social Learning and Intimate Partner Violence by Women 72Personality and Intimate Partner Violence by Women 73Typologies 74Reporting Issues by Victims 75Witnessing Inter-Parental Violence 76Treatment 77Conclusion 786 Rape, Sexual Assault and Molestation by Women 80Introduction 80Rape, Sexual Assaults and Coercion: Beyond the Male Perpetrator–Female Victim Paradigm 80The Prevalence of Female Sexual Assaults Based on Perpetrator Self-Report 81Victim prevalence reports 82Theories Regarding Sexual Assault by Women 83Women Who Sexually Offend Against Children 85Prevalence 85Similarities and differences compared with male sex offenders (MSOs) 85Typologies 87Deviant arousal and mental illness 90Past victimization 91Child Pornography and the Internet 92Victim Effects 93Awareness, Gender Bias and the Social Construction of Women 94Legal Issues 95Assessment, Treatment and Recidivism 96A Brief Note on Juvenile Female Sex Offenders 100Conclusion 1017 Filicide by Women 102Introduction 102Neonaticide 103Pregnancy Concealment, Denial and Negation 104Infanticide 107Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Infanticide 108Child Homicide by Women 109Language, Filicide and Objectification 111Gender and Filicide 112Typologies 113Mental Illness and Filicide 114Serial Infanticide 117Legalities 120Conclusion 1228 Homicide and Women 123What Is Homicide? 123Types of Homicide 124Genocide 124Mass murder 128Mass murder for ideology 131Murder 132Killing for love 133Women who kill from fear 134Women who kill for money 136Girls who kill 137Manslaughter 142Suicide 142Conclusion 1439 Serial Murder and Women 144What Is Serial Murder? 145Explanations for Serial Murder 146Childhood 146Psychiatric explanations 152The role of psychopathy 153The role of paraphilias 155Neurological contributions 157Female Serial Killers 158Comfort serial killers 158Couples Who Kill 160Conclusion 16310 Conclusion 165References 169Index 217