Brandi Kiker Prof. Presnell Engl. 1103 17 Oct.

2012 Women Serial Killers Compared to Men Serial Killers Proposal Inquiry Question How do men and women serial killers compare to one another? Primary Purpose My primary purpose is to explore. I want to figure out if there are many big differences between men and women serial killers. I am curious about this because I am always hearing about men serial killers in the news but I hardly ever have heard about the women serial killers. The first time that I had heard about women serial killers was in my forensic science class in high school and it immediately grabbed my attention because I had never really thought about a woman being a serial killer before, I always thought it was kind of a man thing. I hope that by finding out the differences and similarities between men and women serial killers that I can figure out why the women arent publicized as much as the men are. 10 questions 1. Who was the first man serial killer? 2. Who was the first woman serial killer? 3. Are there more men serial killers than women serial killers? 4. Are women serial killers smarter than men serial killers are? 5. How many men serial killers have been caught while still alive? 6. How many women serial killers have been caught while still alive?

7. How much evidence is there when a woman serial killer is brought to trial compared to when a man serial killer is put on trial? 8. Are women serial killers sneakier than men serial killers are? 9. How many women serial killers are well known to the public? 10. How many women serial killers were put on main news stations compared to how many men were? What I already know I honestly do not know much about the differences and similarities between women and men serial killers. I have studied some serial killers previously in high school. However, I have never thought about or looked at the differences between the men and women serial killers until now. I do know that men are usually blamed for the majority of violent crimes including domestic violence so it rather gives them a bad reputation and are automatically seen as the deadly gender. I want to have a career in criminal justice and forensics so the whole serial killer, mystery, puzzle solvers really interest me. Assumptions My prior beliefs about women serial killers was that the just didnt exist at all, and that women never killed anyone. Once I got to my forensic science class in high school I learned about the women serial killers from the past and made me think that maybe I dont hear about the women as much as the men because there arent as many women serial killers as there are men serial killers. However, now that I have thought about it some more maybe it is just that the women serial killers are smarter and do not leave behind enough evidence to be caught.

Working Knowledge When I googled my topic I was brought to a website called Psychology Today which had an article named Female Serial Killers written by Joni E. Johnston. In this article, I learned that just as I had thought previously, when people hear female serial killer they think it to be an oxymoron. In addition, sex and pleasure is more of a motive for men serial killers than it is women and you are far less likely to see women torture their victims than you are to see men. Finally, I learned from this article that women use more secretive methods of killing such as poising and smothering. Broaden If I had to broaden my topic, I would try to learn about serial killers in general and their ways of thinking and motives. Narrow If I had to narrow my topic, I would probably just narrow it down to the female serial killer because it interests me more than the men serial killers that we always hear about.