#813 Marissa Harrison - Just as Deadly: The Psychology of Female Serial Killers
RECORDED ON FEBRUARY 13th 2023.
Dr. Marissa Harrison is Associate Professor of Psychology in the School of Behavioral Sciences and Education, and Interim Chair of Social Sciences and Psychology at Penn State Harrisburg. She is a research psychologist who investigates serial murder, and interest in serial murder, from an evolutionary and other psychological perspectives. She is the author of Just as Deadly: The Psychology of Female Serial Killers.
In this episode, we focus on Just as Deadly. We start by talking about statistics on serial killing, and why the focus tends to be on males. We discuss morbid curiosity, and why some people are interested in serial killing. We then get into psychological factors, like demographic data; development, life events, and trauma; motivations, and the modus operandi; neurological data; and sociocultural factors. We talk about how commentators in the media might misinform people on crime and criminals. Finally, we discuss a possible evolutionary rationale behind female serial killing.
Time Links:
Intro
What percentage of men and of women are serial killers?
How people classify something as “serial killing”
Why the focus on males?
Why are some people interested in serial murder?
Demographic data on female serial killers
Development, and life events
A possible evolutionary explanation
Motivations, and the modus operandi
Neurological data
Commenting about crime on media
Sociocultural factors
More on evolutionary psychology
Follow Dr. Harrison’s work!
Follow Dr. Harrison’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3PFlvoq
Website: https://bit.ly/3V0FcIg
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3PyZKXg
Just as Deadly: https://bit.ly/3Fx3bsO
Twitter handle: @MHarrisonPSU