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Tsellou M, Bacopoulou F, Ferentinos P, Baccino E, Martrille L, Papadodima S. The Prevalence and Characteristics of Intrafamilial Child and Adolescent Homicides in Greece over 11 Years (2010-2020). CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 10:1783. [PMID: 38002874 PMCID: PMC10669970 DOI: 10.3390/children10111783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023]
Abstract
Intrafamilial child/adolescent homicide is the murder of a child/adolescent by one or more family members. This study delves into the medical and sociological consequences of child homicide, shedding light on the broader impact beyond individual families, which extends into the local community. Two Internet search engines and the search engines of major national news websites were surveyed to identify the number of intrafamilial child/adolescent homicide cases that occurred in Greece from January 2010 to December 2020. Over the study period, 34 victims of intrafamilial child/adolescent homicides were identified. The above deaths reflect an intrafamilial child/adolescent homicide rate of 0.15 homicides per year per 100,000 inhabitants. Most of the perpetrators (51.4%) were male, and the victims were equally divided into males and females. The ages of the perpetrators ranged from 13 to 61 years, and the ages of the victims ranged between 0 and 17 years. Most perpetrators (54.5%) had a previous psychiatric history and in many cases, they committed (33.3%) or attempted (15.2%) suicide after the homicide. The most common method of homicide was strangulation (usually combined with suffocation) (25%), followed by abandonment (15.6%). The most commonly reported motives were spousal revenge (26.5%) and psychotic disorders (26.5%). Raising awareness for intrafamilial child and adolescent homicide is of the utmost importance for the prevention of this dreadful phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Tsellou
- Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece;
| | - Flora Bacopoulou
- Center for Adolescent Medicine and UNESCO Chair in Adolescent Health Care, First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece;
| | - Panagiotis Ferentinos
- Affective Disorders and Suicide Unit, 2nd Department of Psychiatry, “Attikon” University General Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece;
| | - Eric Baccino
- EDPFM, Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Montpellier, CHU Montpellier, F-34000 Montpellier, France; (E.B.); (L.M.)
| | - Laurent Martrille
- EDPFM, Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Montpellier, CHU Montpellier, F-34000 Montpellier, France; (E.B.); (L.M.)
| | - Stavroula Papadodima
- Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece;
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Carrasco-Sánchez N, Barón-Picazo I, López-Ossorio JJ, Muñoz-Vicente JM, Díaz-Román A. Características de los Varones Filicidas de Menores de Edad: una Revisión Sistemática. ANUARIO DE PSICOLOGÍA JURÍDICA 2022. [DOI: 10.5093/apj2022a5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
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Laufer B. Medea as the Modern Mother: Infanticide, Motherhood, and Transmutation. PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES-A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF JUNGIAN THOUGHT 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/00332925.2021.1959219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Raymond S, Ducasse MV, Azoulay M, Gasman I. Maternal filicide and mental illness: A descriptive study of 17 women hospitalized in a French secure unit over a 24-year period. J Forensic Sci 2021; 66:1818-1828. [PMID: 34196016 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.14780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2021] [Revised: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Maternal filicide is defined as the murder of a child by its mother. Many classifications have been elaborated based on underlying motives such as altruism, mental pathology, fatal maltreatment, spousal revenge, or an unwanted child. Pathological filicide refers to cases in which the perpetrator has a major psychiatric illness. Related literature is sparse. The present work proposes to identify the main characteristics of mentally ill filicidal mothers. This study was based on data gathered through a retrospective chart review of all filicidal women admitted to the Henri Colin secure unit (France) between 1996 and 2019 (N = 17). Most filicidal mothers had a dysfunctional childhood marked by emotional neglect, intrafamilial violence, or social isolation. They were often married, on average about 32 years old. We found a history of attempted filicide in 3 cases, and abuse or neglect in 3 other cases. The victim's average age was 6.2 years old, and in several cases, multiple siblings were murdered. Half of the filicidal mothers had a history of psychiatric disorders. Three different diagnoses were found in our study: bipolar or depressive disorders (41.2%); schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders (41.2%); personality disorders (17.6%). We identified two subgroups, as having different motivational profiles. In the first group, filicide is a defensive reaction to a perceived threat: The murder is committed under the influence of hallucinations or delusions. In the second group, filicide is linked to a context of separation, real or imagined. Several forensic and psychopathologic features associated with each profile are detailed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Raymond
- SMPR, GHU Paris Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Paris, France
| | | | - Marion Azoulay
- SMPR, GHU Paris Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Paris, France
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Blackshaw BP. Legal punishment, abortion and the substance view. New Bioeth 2019; 26:275-277. [PMID: 31847727 DOI: 10.1080/20502877.2019.1703616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Ramsauer B, Achtergarde S. Mothers with acute and chronic postpartum psychoses and impact on the mother-infant interaction. Schizophr Res 2018; 197:45-58. [PMID: 29496331 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2018.02.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2017] [Revised: 01/27/2018] [Accepted: 02/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Maternal postpartum psychoses pose a serious risk to the mother-infant interaction. It is unclear how different subtypes of postpartum psychosis, including acute and chronic, might differentially affect the mother-infant interaction. METHOD A systematic search of electronic journal databases was performed. RESULTS This systematic review yielded 17 studies with adequate overall study quality. They focused on child custody and involvement of social services as indirect indicators of the mother-infant interaction, observed mother-infant interactions as direct indicators, or potential transitional mechanisms, including memory processing, mind-mindedness, and affect recognition, that may partially explain the effects of psychotic disorders. An acute onset of psychosis during the postpartum period (de novo or relapse) was typically related to better mother-infant interactions. Mothers with schizophrenia have the highest risk of child displacement, and interventions by social services were more likely. However, mothers with postpartum schizophrenia did not exhibit more harm to the child or self-harm than mothers with postpartum depression. Heterogeneity of methodology, case definitions, and assessments characterized the studies; hence, they were not pooled. CONCLUSIONS In addition to evaluating social risk factors in patients with acute onset and chronic psychoses during the postpartum period, negative preconceptions about motherhood and schizophrenia have to be carefully examined. Clinical research on postpartum psychoses should consider the onset criteria, prevalence of self-harm or harm to the child, significance of specific (e.g., religious) delusions and expressed hostility toward the child. More studies on the impact of first-onset (de novo) postpartum psychoses on the mother-infant interaction are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigitte Ramsauer
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Muenster, Germany
| | - Sandra Achtergarde
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Muenster, Germany.
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Saavedra L, Cameira M, Rebelo AS, Sebastião C. Gender Norms in Portuguese College Students' Judgments in Familial Homicides: Bad Men and Mad Women. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2017; 32:249-267. [PMID: 25957063 DOI: 10.1177/0886260515585542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The gender of the offender has been proved to be an important factor in judicial sentencing. In this study, we analyze the judgments of College students regarding perpetrators of familial homicides to evaluate the presence of these gender norms and biases in the larger society. The sample included 303 college students (54.8% female) enrolled in several social sciences and engineering courses. Participants were asked to read 12 vignettes based on real crimes taken from Portuguese newspapers. Half were related to infanticide, and half were related to intimate partner homicide. The sex of the offender was orthogonally manipulated to the type of crime. The results show that gender had an important impact on sentences, with males being more harshly penalized by reasons of perversity and women less penalized by reason of mental disorders. In addition, filicide was more heavily penalized than was intimate partner homicide. The results also revealed a tendency toward a retributive conception of punishment. We discuss how gender norms in justice seem to be embedded in society as well as the need for intervention against the punitive tendency of this population.
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Abstract
The role of gender in violence is poorly understood. Research has shown that gender has an important and, at times, distinct role in the prediction of violence. However, this gender disparity diminishes in the setting of mental illness. The risk assessment of violence in women is largely based on research in violent men. There are distinct characteristics in female violence compared with male violence. Attention to these characteristics may lead to the development of gender-dependent tools that can be used to evaluate violence risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renee Sorrentino
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard School of Medicine, 15 Parkman Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
| | - Susan Hatters Friedman
- Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland Hospital Support Building, Room 12-003, Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Ryan Hall
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law, 2500 West Lake Mary Boulevard, Lake Mary, FL 32746, USA
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Blurring reality with fiction: Exploring the stories of women, madness, and infanticide. Women Birth 2016; 30:e24-e31. [PMID: 27444643 DOI: 10.1016/j.wombi.2016.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2016] [Revised: 06/30/2016] [Accepted: 07/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
PROBLEM Often, there is a sense of shock and disbelief when a mother murders her child. BACKGROUND Yet, literary texts (plays, poems and novels) contain depictions of women experiencing mental illness or feelings of desperation after childbirth who murder their children. AIM To further understand why a woman may harm her child we examine seven literary texts ranging in time and place from fifth century BCE Greece to twenty-first century Australia. METHODS A textual analysis approach examined how the author positioned the woman in the text, how other characters in the text reacted to the woman before, during, and after the mental illness or infanticide, and how the literary or historical critical literature sees the woman. FINDINGS Three important points about the woman's experience were revealed: she is represented as morally ambiguous and becomes marginalised and isolated; she is depicted as murdering or abandoning her child because she is experiencing mental illness and/or she is living in desperate circumstances; and she believes there is no other option. CONCLUSION Literary texts can shed light on socio-psychological struggles women experience and can be used to stimulate discussion by healthcare professionals about the development of preventative or early intervention strategies to identify women at risk.
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Myftari K, Vyshka G. Mission impossible: upholding successfully a charge of infanticide in the Albanian legal practice. J Med Ethics Hist Med 2014; 7:4. [PMID: 25512825 PMCID: PMC4263390 DOI: pmid/25512825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2013] [Accepted: 02/16/2014] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Infanticide is a horrendous crime universally condemned from all ethical, juridical and moral standpoints. However, legislation on infanticide foresees mitigating circumstances for infanticidal mothers, with sentences by far disproportionate to the severity of the crime. The main justification for this abstaining from severe punishments has been the so-called post puerperal psychosis, whose diagnostic criteria and existence are still very confusing. Psychiatric experts and even jurors show excessive feelings of empathy toward defendant mothers, and fair verdicts under this setting and with this judicial tradition are questionable. Albanian courts have in some cases even denied defendant mothers the unwilling albeit necessary psychiatric treatment, thus exposing them to recidivism and to other social difficulties. Upholding the charge of infanticide in an Albanian court is hereby an impossible enterprise, with high chances for defendants to achieve acquittal on mental insanity grounds. Through describing three cases of infanticide and filicide in recent years of Albanian judicial proceedings, authors raise the concern formulated from other sources regarding the excessive empathy surrounding infanticidal mothers, a deleterious obstacle toward achieving justice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kreshnik Myftari
- Department of Criminal Law, Faculty of Law, University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania
| | - Gentian Vyshka
- Biomedical and Experimental Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine in Tirana, Tirana, Albania
- Corresponding Author: Gentian Vyshka, Address: Lagja 1, Rr. Kostaq Cipo, Pall. 2/19, Tirana, Albania., , Tel: +355 697566130
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