Gender differences in combined homicide-suicide with consideration of female terrorist bombers

Combined homicide-suicide (H-S) is a phenomenon described as an offender committing a homicidal act followed by their suicide. Current literature on H-S is dominated by a focus on men and their particular set of motivations and actions, primarily because females constitute only a small fraction of the cases of completed H-S. This review begins by analyzing this data and integrating females within two subclassifications of H-S: the psychopathology of the actor (or perpetrator), and the actor's relationship to her homicide victims. Within the relational subcategory of H-S, females are: (1) underrepresented when victims are their spouses or intimate partners (consortial H-S); (2) more prevalent when victims are their own children (filial H-S); and (3) with rare exceptions, not represented in extrafamilial, adversarial and pseudo-commando H-S perpetrators. This review includes female bombers in this gender comparison.