, anglos, as a group, are not likely to condone a black murdering an anglo. Only slightly more than one third of the murder offenders in the United States are anglo (Federal Bureau of Investiga tion, 1989). Anglos, however, account for more than four fifths of the American population (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1989). Proportionately, therefore, murder in the United States is not predominantly an anglo crime. Thus, when an anglo is accused of murder, it is not unusual for society to seek ways of rationalizing the act. This factor was but one of many fac tors involved in the "Preppie Murder" case, on which both the perpetrator and the victim were anglos.
While murder in the United States is, as stated above, to a great extent, a racially/ethnically segregated offense, it is an act in which both the perpetrators and the victims are pre dominantly male. Males account for almost nine of 10 murder offenders in the United States, and for three quarters of the murder victims (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1989). Considering the male/female proportional representation among murder offenders, it is obvious that males account for most murders, regardless of the sex of the victim. Of males mur dered, 83 percent are slain by other males, while 90 percent of the females murdered are slain by males (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1989).
Gender statistics with respect to murder are significant in the development of societal attitudes toward victims and perpetrators. People tend to rebel at the notion that some thing must be wrong in a society in which one gender is respon sible for almost all murders. Therefore, society seeks to rationalize their acts. When women are the murder victims, there is a strong tendency in
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