Cette recherche s’intéresse aux troubles de la personnalité, à l’impulsivité et aux symptômes dissociatifs présentés par des femmes selon qu’elles ont commis un crime violent contre un membre de leur famille (n=16) ou contre une connaissance ou un étranger (n=11). Nos résultats indiquent que les femmes qui commettent des crimes violents envers une personne extérieure à leur famille sont plus nombreuses à présenter un trouble de la personnalité (p<0,05), notamment antisociale (p<0,05), à être impulsives (p<0,01), à avoir agressé une personne majeure (p<0,05) et à avoir des antécédents judiciaires (p<0,05) que les femmes dont la victime est un membre de la famille. On n’observe cependant aucune différence significative entre les deux groupes en ce qui concerne les symptômes dissociatifs sévères. Ces résultats suggèrent que les femmes qui commettent des crimes violents ne constituent pas un groupe homogène et que de plus amples recherches sont nécessaires afin de mieux cerner cette problématique.

Despite societal changes in recent decades, the criminality of women remains far less studied than that of men, even more so when it comes to violent crime. The present study examines specific psychological factors such as personality disorders, impulsivity, dissociative symptoms as well as putative differences in demographic and background characteristics between women who have victimised a family member versus an acquaintance or a stranger.

This study compares a group of incarcerated women who have committed a violent crime against a family member (Close-group=16) with a group of incarcerated women who have committed a violent crime against an acquaintance or a stranger (Acquaintance/Stranger group=11). These women were 19 to 46 years old at the time of the offense (M=33.59, S.D.=7.617). More specifically, at the time of the offense, 8 (29.6%) women were 36 to 40 years old, 10 (37%) lived with a partner, 21 (77.8%) had children, and 14 (51.9%) were employed. Furthermore, it appears that, throughout their lifetime, 15 (55.6%) women were physically abused, 13 (48.1%) were sexually abused, and 9 (33.3%) had made at least one suicide attempt. Finally, 9 (33.3%) women had prior criminal record. To complete this study, we used the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) Overview and a questionnaire on background data and life events to obtain demographic data and other specific information on the women's life, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II) to assess the personality disorders, the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11) to measure the level of impulsivity, and finally, the Dissociative Experiences Scale II (DES-II) to obtain the level of dissociative symptoms. We hypothesized that women in the Acquaintance/Stranger group would have more personality issues and that they would be more impulsive than women in the Close-group. In addition, we measured whether there is any significant difference between the two groups in terms of the three dimensions of the BIS-11 as well as regarding severe dissociative symptoms (DES-II>29).

No significant differences were found among the two groups in terms of demographic and background characteristics except for age of victims and prior criminal record. Indeed, more women in the Acquaintance/Stranger group had assaulted an adult (P<0.05) and had a prior criminal record (P<0.05) than in the Close-group. In terms of the first hypothesis, there was a significant difference in personality disorders among the two groups, with more women in the Acquaintance/Stranger group having a personality disorder (P<0.05). There was also a significant difference in impulsivity among the two groups, again in favor of the Acquaintance/Stranger group (P<0.01). Other results showed a significant difference between the two groups on each dimension of the BIS-11 (P<0.05) while there was no significant difference in terms of severe dissociative symptoms.

These results suggest that women who commit violent crimes are not a homogenous group and that further research is needed to better understand this problematic.