Citation

Thomson ND. Front. Psychol. 2022; 13: e873305.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Frontiers Research Foundation)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2022.873305

PMID

35756318

PMCID

PMC9218335

Abstract

Research exploring risk factors of gun violence is limited, especially research involving women as perpetrators of violence. Yet, women account for 18-21% of convicted violent crime. The present study aimed to test if psychopathy, a notable risk factor for violence, was related to past convictions of gun violence, general forms of violence, and non-violent crime. In a sample of 206 female offenders, multinomial logistic regressions assessed how interpersonal, affective, and behavioral psychopathic traits increased the likelihood of women belonging to the gun violence group, a violent crime group, and a non-violent crime group.

RESULTS showed the interpersonal and affective facets increased the likelihood of women belonging to the gun violence group compared to both the violent and non-violent crime groups. The behavioral facet increased the likelihood of women belonging to the violent crime group when compared to the gun violence and non-violent crime groups. These results suggest that gun violence has different risk factors than violent and non-violent crime. This line of inquiry indicates that existing violence prevention strategies may need to be modified to address gun violence.

Language: en

Keywords

violence; psychopathy; gun violence; female offender; firearm-related crime