Violence and Gender: New refereed journal delves into gender basis of violence

Delving into controversial and unsettling subjects such as the gender basis of violence, the new refereed journal Violence and Gender, launching in fall 2013, will explore the difficult issues that are vital to threat assessment and prevention of the epidemic of violence. Edited by Mary Ellen O'Toole, PhD, Violence and Gender is the first and only peer-reviewed journal focusing on the understanding, prediction, and prevention of acts of violence, and will be published online with Open Access options and in print by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

"We have an urgent imperative," says Mary Ann Liebert, President and CEO of the company that bears her name. "There are differences in the way men and women exhibit violent behavior, and they need to be better understood and addressed to prevent tragic acts of murder and massive, often irreversible, injury. It is a serious public health issue."

Violence and Gender will be the international forum for the critical examination of biological, genetic, behavioral, psychological, racial, ethnic, and cultural factors as they relate to the gender of perpetrators of violence. Papers in the Journal will cover topics such as gender biology; genetics; psychopathy; mental health; planned predatory behavior; testosterone, hormones, and neurochemicals; nature vs. nurture; films, television, and video games; and pyromania.

The Editor-in-Chief of Violence and Gender, Mary Ellen O'Toole, PhD, is recognized as the FBI's leading expert in psychopathy. Her expertise is in criminal investigative analysis, offender behavior, targeted school violence, workplace violence, and threat assessment. How gender impacts these subjects must be better understood to prevent the growing number and nature of violent episodes.

"We are becoming immune to tragic events such as Columbine," Dr. O'Toole says. "The mandate for this journal to help us better understand and hopefully prevent these tragedies is absolute."

Dr. O'Toole has helped develop a better understanding of infamous offenders, including Green River Killer Gary Ridgway and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, and high-profile crimes, such as the Columbine shootings, Zodiac serial murder case, and 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics bombing.

"I spent my career studying the criminal violent mind," says Dr. O'Toole, "and now gratuitous violence is at an all-time high. This violence is well-planned, lethal, and extremely callous. The offenders are nearly always male. Does gender really make a difference in the commission of violent crime? It's time for a journal to take on this question."

Violence and Gender will be a primary resource for psychologists and mental health providers; sociologists; criminologists; educators; cultural anthropologists; probation, parole, and corrections officers; and law enforcement professionals at federal, state, local, and international agencies that assess threats and deal with violent behaviors.