Objective. To define a role of clinical, psychological and social factors in the development of aggressive behavior in women. Material and methods. A total of 1054 women serving their sentence in a penal colony were stratified into three groups: group 1 — 435 women with heteroaggressive behavior, group 2 — 298 women with self-aggressive behavior, group 3 (control group) — 321 woman without aggressive behavior. Clinical, psychological, sociological, and statistical methods were used. Results and conclusion. The groups differed by the presence, severity and form of mental disorder and by psychological and social characteristics. It has been concluded that clinical and psychopathological factors play the most important role in the formation of aggression in women. The importance of psychological factors is ambiguous. They often play a secondary role but may be on parity or priority. The impact of social factors is often mediated.