In fact, it is estimated that around 70% of female serial killers select family members or someone who is dependent on them as a victim. An example of this is both filicide and infanticide, which are crimes most commonly committed by women (Aki, 2003, cited in Mouzos & West, 2007). In addition to this, cases of health care professionals murdering their patients are women in around half of all cases, both in the U.S. And other countries (Yorker et al., 2006). The majority of these cases have occurred where the female in question was a nurse, murdering either children or elderly victims in their care. The explanation of this pattern is not clear, given that there is little in terms of extrinsic gains achieved. There is also little in terms of qualitative evidence available with which to interpret these patterns. V. Conclusion

It would appear that while female serial killers are very rare, they do differ significantly from their male counterparts. In response to this, classifications have had to be developed to take account of these differences. Most notably, there appear to be significant differences in motivation behind the killings, and also in the victims and methods selected. Despite this, there is a lack of information which allows for thorough analysis of patterns in these crimes. Silvio et al. (2006) suggest that there are a number of problems which hinder theoretical formation around female serial killers. This includes problems with the qualitative data which is available, predominantly brought about by a lack of access to these serial killers from which interviews can be conducted. Silvio et al. also suggest that there are reliability issues with much of the data available, including that gathered directly from the killer. A further problem which may also lead to discrepancies and uncertainty is the small number of cases on which analysis is based, as female serial killers are far rarer than their male counterparts. This is important, as by understanding the...

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Female Serial Killers