What are some theories as to why there are so few female serial killers?
I think it could be partially wiring ie serial killers often begin as little boys killing animals. Girls tend to protect small animals as part of their nurturing drive. It could be partially cultural ie so far, in the developed world, it seems to have a connection with boys dominated by their mothers. Girls are not so often dominated by their fathers as boys are by mothers in western societies, as fathers are more likely to have been absent at work But I suspect we have only scraped the tip of the iceberg. As family patterns change in the west, we might see more females emerge as serial killers. Also we have not yet seen what happens in non-western cultures. The patterns might be quite different. They would also go more undetected where there is not yet a good forensic system in place. BTW, while I was doing family history, I found that the sister of one of my relatives-by-marriage over 120 years ago was the last woman hanged in NSW for giving rat-sack to THREE husbands. That would cou
First, while it is generally regarded that "few" female serial killers are known, it is also widely accepted that because the vast majority of female serial killers arrange for their victims to be classified as having had "natural deaths," they are much better at getting away with murder than their male counterparts. Secondly, Peter Vronsky lists 140 female serial killers in his 2007 book, but little serious historial research has been done on the subject. New research (2009-2010) produces a list of 280 female serial killers, and it is reasonable to expect the list to grow as research into historical records continues. When all factors are taken into consideration it would seem unjustifiable to assume (based just on the fact that more male serial killers are identifiable due to their radically different behavior than female serial killers) that there are in actuality more male serial killers than female ones throughout history.
