Title: Debunking Myths About Gender, Race and Murder | Psychology Today
Headings: Debunking Myths About Gender, Race and Murder
Scott A. Bonn Ph.D.
Debunking Myths About Gender, Race and Murder
Reality is not what you might think.

Content: There is an old and pervasive myth which contends that women simply do not commit murder. This myth is based on traditional gender norms or expectations of behavior which include the idea that females are too passive and sweet to kill someone. article continues after advertisement
In reality, women do kill—albeit at much lower rates than men. The data over the years reveal that one in 10 murders is committed by a woman. For example, a total of 666,160 people were killed in the U.S. between 1960 and 1996, and approximately 90 percent of those murders were committed by males. According to more recent UCR data for the years 1980 to 2008, males were seven times more likely to commit murder than females. The data reveal that homicide offending rates for both males and females followed the same general pattern as victimization rates. Specifically, the offending rate for females declined from 3.1 offenders per 100,000 persons in 1980 to 1.6 offenders per 100,000 persons in 2008. The offending rate for males peaked in 1991 at 20.8 per 100,000 persons, and then fell to a low of 11.3 per 100,000 persons in 2008. Similar to homicide victimization, a white female is the least likely homicide offender of all possible race and gender combinations.