Women who kill: Female serial killers (blood, elder, America, sex)

[Nanda]

I just finished the book Women who kill: Profiles of Female Serial Killers by Carol Anne Davis. I've found that the first thing that immediately leaps to many people's minds when this subject comes up is "There are female serial killers?" Even with the popular movie Monster, (starring Charlize Theron) that came out a few years ago about the life of female serial killer Aileen Wuornos, some people still seem to have trouble believing that such women exist. In fact, while it takes an average of four years to catch a male serial killer, the average number of years that a female serial killer runs loose is eight; mainly because when the bodies start turning up, the police don't start looking for a woman. In some instances, nurses were able to kill small children and the elderly in their care for years, and even though the alarming death toll during their shifts did not go unnoticed, no one wanted to accuse a woman of such atrocities, so no action was taken. I found this incredibly unsettling, not to mention frustrating. Female killers also tend to get lighter sentences than their male counterparts. Would you agree that this is one definate instance where unequal treatment of the sexes is detrimental to society?

[lava]

Originally Posted by Nanda

I just finished the book Women who kill: Profiles of Female Serial Killers by Carol Anne Davis. I've found that the first thing that immediately leaps to many people's minds when this subject comes up is "There are female serial killers?" Even with the popular movie Monster, (starring Charlize Theron) that came out a few years ago about the life of female serial killer Aileen Wuornos, some people still seem to have trouble believing that such women exist. In fact, while it takes an average of four years to catch a male serial killer, the average number of years that a female serial killer runs loose is eight; mainly because when the bodies start turning up, the police don't start looking for a woman. In some instances, nurses were able to kill small children and the elderly in their care for years, and even though the alarming death toll during their shifts did not go unnoticed, no one wanted to accuse a woman of such atrocities, so no action was taken. I found this incredibly unsettling, not to mention frustrating. Female killers also tend to get lighter sentences than their male counterparts. Would you agree that this is one definate instance where unequal treatment of the sexes is detrimental to society?

imo evil rises in the heart. doesnot matter male or female.

"no action was taken" this kinda hits me cos even the idea of it freezes blood. how could that be? where did this happen?

[Shadow Wolf]

There are a few reasons women can potentially make better serial killers. One reason being the obvious that people do not expect women. Another reason is, and it sounds messed up but it stands true, is the phrase "women have the worlds most powerful weapon." Sex is another reason women can make more efficient killers. It is very probably that no one pressed charges over the killer nurse because the killer was sleeping with the right people.

[Fluffy]

Would you agree that this is one definate instance where unequal treatment of the sexes is detrimental to society?

Based on your post, I can see two possible reasons why unequal treatment would be detrimental to society:
1) Bias against men allows female serial killers to get away with their crimes for longer leading to more deaths.
This assumes that more serial killers as a whole would be caught if the police looked for a person rather than a man. However, this is not necessarily the case if the percentage of serial killers is such that the serial killer is more likely to be a man and that therefore looking for a person might waste time consequently increasing the average time that male serial killers go free.
2) Bias against men leads to lighter sentences for women.
Perhaps but we would need to look at why men recieve heavier sentences. It might be due to bias or it might be due to another correlation. In the UK, female killers tend to recieve heavier sentences.

[PureX]

But the perceptions are based on reality. The truth is that women are far less likely to kill another human being then men. So although it's important that the people who try to catch the perpetraiters of murder be open-minded, it would also be inefficient of them to spend a lot of time pursuing female suspects. We "profile" for a reason, and the reason is that most of the time, it works.

[Nanda]

Originally Posted by lava

imo evil rises in the heart. doesnot matter male or female.

"no action was taken" this kinda hits me cos even the idea of it freezes blood. how could that be? where did this happen?

All over. America, the UK, France, Germany...

The one I'm thinking of specifically is Genene Jones, of Texas. She was believed to have killed over 20 infants at the first hospital where she worked, but because they couldn't prove anything, they let go of the entire nursing staff that worked what had come to be called "The Death Shift" and sent Genene off to another clinic with a good recommendation, where she proceeded to kill several more infants and small children. This happened between 1981 and 1984. (At the time the book was written, Genene was elligible for parole in 2009.)

[Nanda]

Originally Posted by Luke Wolf

Another reason is, and it sounds messed up but it stands true, is the phrase "women have the worlds most powerful weapon." Sex is another reason women can make more efficient killers. It is very probably that no one pressed charges over the killer nurse because the killer was sleeping with the right people.

While this sounds incredibly plausible, there aren't any documented cases of that happening.

[Nanda]

Originally Posted by Fluffy

In the UK, female killers tend to recieve heavier sentences.

Heavier sentences than women in other countries, or heavier sentences than their male counterparts in the UK? Because from what I've read recently, the latter is not true.