The psychology of female serial killers

This course examines the psychology of female serial killers. Female serial killers are relatively rare.

Female murderers are relatively rare. When women do kill, it is often their partners or their children. It is estimated that females constitute only around 10% of all murderers. This makes female serial killers extremely rare. Some studies have suggested that of all know serial killers, around 15% are female.

Many of the studies that have been conducted on serial killers have largely focused on men, or assumed that there are no differences between male and female serial killers. However, in general, people are much more shocked when it comes to female serial killers because they break the norm from expected behaviour. In general, we expect women to be the caregivers and be kind and nurture others. However, when women do kill, we largely place these females in the role of the victim.

In this course there are three sections. Throughout the modules you will learn the following information:

Are female murderers rare?

Why do women murder?

What characteristics do they have?

Are there any differences between female serial killers and women who only murder once?

How are different types of female serial killer defined?

There will also be an in-depth analysis of Aileen Wuornos in the final module.