The Enigma of a Violent Woman

Jennifer M. Kilty is Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa. Her research primarily focuses on gender and different aspects of criminalization, including the social construction of dangerous girls and women, the medicalization/psychiatrization of criminalized women, self-harming behaviours, drug use, and more recently the criminalization of HIV nondisclosure. She recently edited two books, Within the Confines: Women and the Law in Canada and Demarginalizing Voices: Commitment, Emotion and Action in Qualitative Research, both published in 2014. Sylvie Frigon is Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa, where she has been teaching since 1993. She is currently Joint Chair in Women’s Studies at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University and Senior Research Associate at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. Alongside academic publications, she has published two novels, Écorchées (2006) on the issue of women in prison, and Ariane et son secret (2010) on a little girl’s quest for her imprisoned mother. She has also worked with Claire Jenny, choreographer and director of the Parisian dance company Point Virgule, with whom she published a book on dance in prison (2009). She is currently working on her third novel funded by the Ontario Arts Council and works in partnership with Le Grands Ballets Canadiens of Montreal’s Centre for Dance Therapy.

Preface; Introduction; Dissecting the gaze: the contradictory constructions of Karla Homolka as in danger and dangerous; Ideal victims and inconsistent offenders: notes on the effects of whiteness, gender, space and class on the cultural fixation on Karla Homolka; Breaking boundaries: notes on the effects of taboo and disgust on the cultural (re)presentations of Karla Homolka; Apologies and iced cappuccinos: examining media and juridical interpretations of Karla Homolka’s remorse performative; Conclusion; Appendices; Methodology; References; Index.