BEYOND the STATISTICS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY of WOMEN ARRESTED for HOMICIDE in BURKE, COLUMBIA, and RICHMOND COUNTIES of GEORGIA

Abstract

In this paper, I report the results of my extensive examination of the county homicide files on all the known cases (N = 42) of homicide committed by females in Burke, Columbia and Richmond Counties of Georgia between January 1, 1990 and September 24, 1999. I describe demographic information about both victims and offenders, the victim-offender relationship, and the methods, circumstances and roles of the accused female-perpetrators. I compare my findings on the homicides committed by females in these less densely populated and rural areas to existing studies which have focused on females in larger, more densely populated parts of the U.S.