Characteristics of Female Homicide Offenders Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity

Article Figures & Data

Table 1

Demographic Characteristics of the Sample

Table 2

Clinical Characteristics

	Female n (%)	Male n (%)
Axis I diagnosis^*
Schizophrenia	12 (26)	24 (52)
Schizoaffective disorder	10 (21)	7 (15)
Substance use disorders	3 (6)	7 (15)
Other psychotic disorder	6 (13)	3 (6)
Major depressive disorder	11 (23)	1 (2)
Bipolar disorder	4 (8)	2 (4)
Other disorders	1 (1)	2 (2)
Axis II diagnosis^†
Antisocial personality disorder	1 (10)	4 (36)
Other personality disorder	3 (30)	6 (55)
Borderline personality disorder	6 (60)	1 (9)
Childhood physical abuse^‡
Yes	19 (56)	15 (34)
Childhood sexual abuse^*
Yes	22 (58)	8 (18)
Intimate partner violence^*
Yes	24 (65)	7 (17)
	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
Age at offense^‡	35.7 (13.0)	31.4 (10.1)
Age at onset of illness	24.2 (13.3)	24.3 (10.7)
Age at first offense^*	33.3 (13.5)	25.1 (8.7)

Table 3

Offense Characteristics

	Female n (%)	Male n (%)
Victim^*
Child	18 (38)	1 (2)
Other family member	12 (26)	11 (23)
Friend/acquaintance/stranger	17 (36)	35 (75)
Victim's age^*
Infant (0–1)	10 (26)	0 (0)
Child (2–17)	7 (18)	0 (0)
Adult (18–59)	16 (32)	30 (79)
Elderly (60+)	5 (14)	8 (21)
Weapon^†
Firearm	9 (19)	16 (34)
Knife	20 (43)	15 (32)
Blunt object	2 (4)	6 (13)
Hands/fists	2 (4)	6 (13)
Other	14 (30)	4 (8)
Method^†
Shot	9 (19)	16 (34)
Stabbed	20 (43)	17 (36)
Strangled	3 (6)	3 (6)
Suffocated	4 (8)	0 (0)
Beat	2 (4)	9 (19)
Drowned	1 (2)	0 (0)
Poisoned	1 (2)	0 (0)
Other	7 (15)	2 (4)