Fathers Who Kill Their Children: An Analysis of the Literature

Filicide in South Asia: Demography, risk factors, psychiatric, and legal aspects

Background & Objective: Filicide is an act of killing a child up to the age of 18 years committed by his or her parent(s) or parental figure(s), including guardians and stepparents. There is absence of data and research regarding filicide in South Asia. The present study aimed to address the empirical lacuna in South Asia and to expand the literature in order to broaden the understanding of filicide. Method: The search was conducted in the databases of PubMed, PubMed Central, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The original articles, quantitative studies, case studies, and full-length articles were included for the present review. Publications in only the English language, which clarified that the child was killed by parent(s) in eight South Asian countries from 2000 to 2020 were included. Results: A total of 13 reports of filicide were found in the eight South Asian countries; 12 from India and 1 from Pakistan. The most common method of filicide was by administering poisonous substances and burning by parents, depression was responsible for 7 cases of filicide, schizophrenia was responsible for one case. Conclusion: The review identified that there is a scarcity of research on filicide in South Asia. Rigorous research and investment for the compilation of data on filicide are needed to reduce it in South Asia. This may further help in the protection of lives of children as well as for taking steps for rehabilitation of parents and society.

Neonaticide rate unchanged in Japan despite a decrease in the birth rate

BACKGROUND

Neonaticide is the murder of a newborn baby within 24 hours of birth. It has been reported in various countries, but there has been little recent research on the current state of neonaticide in Japan.

AIM

To elucidate the epidemiological features of neonaticide in Japan using public long-term, population-based data collected over 14 years and 9 months from July 2003 to March 2018.

METHODS

A descriptive analysis of public data from 2003 to the present was conducted related to deaths which had been retrospectively investigated and deemed by the authorities to be caused by child abuse or neglect.

RESULTS

Between July 2003 and March 2018, there were 149 cases of 'known' neonaticide in Japan and the incidence was 0.96/100,000 live births. The majority of perpetrators were mothers, accounting for 135 (91%) of cases, and in 70 (48%) cases they were young mothers under the age of 25. None of the infants was delivered in a medical facility. Nine (6%) murders were committed by both parents together and only one (1%) by the father alone.

CONCLUSION

The number of births in Japan has been declining gradually but the rate of neonaticide is the same.

Toward a Better Understanding of the Psychosocial Issues and Different Profiles of Male Filicides

Violence against children is a major public health concern and involves significant consequences. However, compared to research on the impact of violence on children, far less is known about the perpetrators of violence against children. The present study aimed to evaluate the psychosocial characteristics and motives of perpetrators of filicide in order to identify their psychosocial profile. Our study analyzed 50 perpetrators of filicides committed in the province of Quebec between 1997 and 2012. Data was obtained from the Office of the Chief Coroner of Quebec, and additional information were retrieved from newspapers. Descriptive analyzes identified the sociodemographic, criminological, psychological-psychiatric characteristics and the motivations of these men. The results indicate that male perpetrators of filicide are, on average, 34.8 years old (SD = 11.9), 46% between the ages of 18 and 35, 48% between the ages of 36 and 55, and 4% are 56 years of age and over. Most filicides were committed following a marital separation (34%), the victims were between 0 and 5 years old (78%) and they were killed with bare hands (78%). Half of the perpetrators of filicide had a criminal record (42%) or history of domestic violence (50%). Some of these men had traits or borderline personality disorder (32%) and depressive symptoms (24%). The addition of clinical cases expands our understanding of the different profiles of perpetrators of filicide. Our study provides avenues for intervention and to promote a better prevention of this type of homicide.

Offender Characteristics and Behaviors in NonSexual Child Maltreatment

Data on 552 child maltreatment cases in South Korea involving convictions, including child physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect, were analyzed in order to compare 259 offenses committed by male offenders with 293 offenses committed by female offenders. Relative to cases involving female offenders, male offenders both had a higher number of criminal convictions and were more likely to have previously abused their victims. By contrast, female offenders were more likely to have had financial difficulties, while their victims were significantly younger compared to male offenders. Male offenders were more likely to strike the victim, either manually or with an instrument, particularly a blunt instrument, whereas female offenders were more likely to pinch or bite their victims. The findings can aid social workers and medical personnel in recognizing the signs of child maltreatment and identifying at-risk children more effectively, helping to employ timely interventions and prevent the reoccurrence of child maltreatment.

Circumstances Preceding Homicide-Suicides Involving Child Victims: A Qualitative Analysis

Homicide-suicide incidents involving child victims can have a detrimental impact on survivors of the violence, family members and friends of the decedents, and other community members, but the rare occurrence of these acts makes using quantitative data to examine their associated antecedents challenging. Therefore, using qualitative data from the 2003-2011 National Violent Death Reporting System, we examined 175 cases of homicide-suicide involving child victims in an effort to better understand the complex situational factors of these events. Our findings indicate that 98% of homicide-suicides with child victims are perpetrated by adults (mostly parents) and propelled by the perpetrators' intimate partner problems, mental health problems, and criminal/legal problems. These events are often premeditated, and plans for the violence are sometimes disclosed prior to its occurrence. Findings provide support for several theoretical perspectives, and implications for prevention are discussed.

A Case Study of Paternal Filicide-Suicide: Personality Disorder, Motives, and Victim Choice

Although evidence with respect to its prevalence is mixed, it is clear that fathers perpetrate a serious proportion of filicide. There also seems to be a consensus that paternal filicide has attracted less research attention than its maternal counterpart and is therefore less well understood. National registries are a very rich source of data, but they generally provide limited information about the perpetrator as psychiatric, psychological and behavioral data are often lacking. This paper presents a fully documented case of a paternal filicide. Noteworthy is that two motives were present: spousal revenge as well as altruism. The choice of the victim was in line with emerging evidence indicating that children with disabilities in general and with autism in particular are frequent victims of filicide-suicide. Finally, a schizoid personality disorder was diagnosed. Although research is quite scarce on that matter, some research outcomes have showed an association between schizoid personality disorder and homicide and violence.

Filicide in the United States

In the United States the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education determines the curriculum required for fellows in forensic psychiatry to become board certified as a subspecialist. Areas that must be covered during the one year fellowship include criminal issues, such as insanity; civil issues, such as tort law and Workers' Compensation; legal regulation of psychiatry, such as confidentiality and involuntary hospitalization; and correctional psychiatry issues, such as dual agency and prisoner's rights. Fellows are also expected to have knowledge about juvenile courts, the structure of the legal system, and child custody issues. In addition, fellows are required to analyze complex cases and write forensic reports which are well reasoned. Teaching methods include lectures, storytelling, use of video vignettes, and mock trials. Additional teaching methodologies include group supervision of fellows in their report writing and direct observation of giving testimony. During the year we see fellows evolve and shift their orientation from being an advocate for patients to perceiving their role as serving justice.

Mental illness and parenthood: being a parent in secure psychiatric care

BACKGROUND

Research into parenting and mental illness seldom includes forensic mental health service users, despite its relevance to therapeutic, family work and risk management.

AIMS

This study aimed to understand the experiences of parents and the variety of parenting roles maintained during admission to a secure forensic hospital.

METHODS

Narrative interviews with 18 parents (eight mothers and 10 fathers) at an English medium security hospital were analysed thematically, using the framework approach. The proportion of patients who are parents and their contact patterns with their children were estimated from records.

RESULTS

About a quarter of men and 38% of women were parents. Parenthood was of central importance to their emotional life, spanning experiences of loss, shame and failed expectations, joy, responsibility and hope. Fewer fathers maintained contact with their children than mothers yet fatherhood remained a vital aspect of men's identities, with impact on their self-esteem. Parenting during lengthy admissions--while constrained and dependent on professional support and surveillance--ranged from sending gifts and money to visits and phone calls. Offending was seen as a particularly shameful aspect of admission, contributing to distancing from the children and difficulty explaining detention to them.

CONCLUSIONS

Such complex experiences call for multidisciplinary knowledge and skills. Provision of focused therapy, as well as appropriate visiting spaces, creative approaches to contact time and support for patients in explaining their mental illness and detention to their children are recommended.

Canadian trends in filicide by gender of the accused, 1961-2011

This paper provides a comprehensive historical and contemporary picture of filicide in Canada for more than half a century. Focusing on 1,612 children under age 18 that were killed by their parents between 1961 and 2011, regional and temporal trends in the gender of accused are examined as well as differences in maternal and paternal filicides by the gender and age of the victim, the age and marital status of the accused, type of parental relationship, cause of death, motive, history of family violence, and clearance status. Results show that there are significant differences in filicides by mothers and fathers. Five possible emerging trends were identified: an increasing gender gap in accused, increasing presence of relationship breakdown, growing number of cases involving stepfathers and a prior history of family violence, and declines in accused who committed suicide. Implications of these trends for interventions and prevention are discussed and future research priorities highlighted.

Toward a more holistic understanding of filicide: a multidisciplinary analysis of 32 years of U.S. arrest data

Filicide is the killing of one or more children by a parent, stepparent, or other parental figure. This study presents the first comprehensive analysis of U.S. filicide, drawn from 94,146 filicide arrests tabulated over a 32-year period in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR). Filicides comprised 15% of all murders during this period. Modal victim age was less than one year old. One-third of the victims were under a year old; over two-thirds of the victims were age six or less. Fathers were as likely as mothers to kill infants. The mean age of offenders was 32 years with a mode of 22 years, and nearly three-quarters were aged 18-45. Female offenders were notably younger than their male counterparts. Black (or African American) offenders were significantly overrepresented in filicide compared to Whites. Most common killing methods included using hands and feet, strangulation, beating, asphyxiation, drowning, and defenestration. Stepparents were not at higher risk of filicide than genetic parents, but were twice as likely to kill using firearms. Synthesizing these results with studies from other fields, we propose three transdisciplinary, empirically informed filicide categories primarily defined by effects of (1) psychopathology associated with neurotransmitter disturbances, (2) gender and sex hormones, and (3) evolutionary motives. Approaching filicide using this proposed hypothetical framework for future research may help identify at-risk populations and improve prevention and treatment.

Homicide-followed-by-suicide incidents involving child victims

OBJECTIVES

To describe homicide-followed-by-suicide incidents involving child victims

METHODS

Using 2003-2009 National Violent Death Reporting System data, we characterized 129 incidents based on victim and perpetrator demographic information, their relationships, the weapons/mechanisms involved, and the perpetrators' health and stress-related circumstances.

RESULTS

These incidents accounted for 188 child deaths; 69% were under 11 years old, and 58% were killed with a firearm. Approximately 76% of perpetrators were males, and 75% were parents/caregivers. Eighty-one percent of incidents with paternal perpetrators and 59% with maternal perpetrators were preceded by parental discord. Fifty-two percent of incidents with maternal perpetrators were associated with maternal psychiatric problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Strategies that resolve parental conflicts rationally and facilitate detection and treatment of parental mental conditions might help prevention efforts.

Filicide-suicide involving children with disabilities

Filicide-suicide, or murder of a child by a parent followed by suicide, has an unknown incidence in both the general and disabled population. As there is no national database, the authors examined known associated factors and newspaper reports to characterize filicide-suicide victims and perpetrators involving children with disabilities. A newspaper search was conducted using LexisNexis and NewsBank: Access World News databases through the University of California, Irvine Library's Web site. Age, gender of child and parent, method used, and diagnoses of parent and child were recorded. Twenty-two news articles were found describing a total of 26 disabled children as victims of filicide-suicide between 1982 and 2010. Eighty-one percent of children killed were male, and 54% were autistic. Thirty percent of perpetrators had a reported mental illness. Male children or children with autism may be at risk for filicide-suicide, but accurate record keeping is needed to determine the incidence and risk factors and aid in its prevention in the disabled population.

Child murder by parents and evolutionary psychology

This article explores the contribution of evolutionary theory to the understanding of causation and motive in filicide cases and also reviews special issues in the forensic evaluation of alleged perpetrators of filicide. Evolutionary social psychology seeks to understand the context in which our brains evolved, to understand human behaviors. The authors propose evolutionary theory as a framework theory to meaningfully appreciate research about filicide. Using evolutionary psychology as a theoretical lens, this article reviews the research on filicide over the past 40 years, and describes epidemiologic and typologic studies of filicide, and theoretical analyses from a range of disciplines.

Mothers who kill: evolutionary underpinnings and infanticide law

Women who kill their children present a profound challenge to accepted notions of motherhood and the protection offered by mothers to their children. Historically, societies have varied in the sanctions applied to perpetrators of such acts, across both time and place. Where penalties were once severe and punitive for mothers, in modern times some two dozen nations now have infanticide acts that reduce the penalties for mothers who kill their infants. Embedded within these acts are key criteria that relate (a) only to women who are (b) suffering the hormonal or mood effects of pregnancy/lactation at the time of the offence which is (c) usually restricted to within the first year after delivery. Criticisms of infanticide legislation have largely centered on inherent gender bias, misconceptions about the hormonal basis of postpartum psychiatric disorders, and the nexus and contribution of these disorders to the offending in relation to issues of culpability and sentencing. Important differences between female perpetrators relative to the age of the child victim have also highlighted problems in the implementation of infanticide legislation. For example, women who commit neonaticide (murder during the first day of life) differ substantially from mentally ill mothers who kill older children. However, despite these shortcomings, many nations have in recent years chosen to retain their infanticide acts. This article reviews the central controversies of infanticide legislation in relation to current research and fundamental fairness. Using evolutionary psychology as a theoretical framework to organize this discussion, it is argued that infanticide legislation is at best unnecessary and at worst misapplied, in that it exculpates criminal intent and fails to serve those for whom an infanticide defense might otherwise have been intended.

Fatal child abuse: a study of 13 cases of continuous abuse

A parent who continuously physically abuses her/his child doesn’t aim to kill the child but commits an accidental filicide in a more violent outburst of anger. Fatal abuse deaths are prevented by recognition of signs of battering in time. Out of 200 examined intra-familial filicides, 23 (12%) were caused by child battering and 13 (7%) by continuous battering. The medical and court records of the victim and the perpetrator were examined. The perpetrator was the biological mother and the victim was male in 69 per cent of the cases. The abused children were either younger than one year or from two-and-a-half to four years old. Risk factors of the victim (being unwanted, premature birth, separation from the parent caused by hospitalization or custodial care, being ill and crying a lot) and the perpetrator (personality disorder, low socioeconomic status, chaotic family conditions, domestic violence, isolation, alcohol abuse) were common. The injuries caused by previous battering were mostly soft tissue injuries in head and limbs and head traumas and the battering lasted for days or even an year. The final assault was more violent and occurred when the parent was more anxious, frustrated or left alone with the child. The perpetrating parent was diagnosed as having a personality disorder (borderline, narcissistic or dependent) and often substance dependence (31%). None of them were psychotic. Authorities and community members should pay attention to the change in child’s behavior and inexplicable injuries or absence from daycare. Furthermore if the parent is immature, alcohol dependent, have a personality disorder and is unable to cope with the demands the small child entails in the parent’s life, the child may be in danger.

Gender differences in filicide offense characteristics--a comprehensive register-based study of child murder in two European countries

OBJECTIVE

This study searched for gender differences in filicidal offense characteristics and associated variables.

METHODS

In this bi-national register-based study all filicide perpetrators (75 mothers and 45 fathers) and their crimes in Austria and Finland 1995-2005 were examined for putative gender differences. The assessed variables were associated with the offense characteristics, the offenders' socioeconomic and criminal history, and related stressful events.

RESULTS

Mothers had previously committed violent offenses less often than fathers (5% vs. 28%, p<0.001) and they were less often employed (27% vs. 49%, p<0.05). Mothers' victims were on average younger than those of fathers; median ages of the victims were 3.4 and 6.1 years, respectively (p<0.001). Fathers were more often intoxicated during the offense (11% vs. 42%, p<0.001) and also used shooting as the method of operation more often than mothers (5% vs. 27%, p<0.001). Mothers used drowning, criminal negligence, and poisoning more often than fathers. Fathers' motives were more impulsive in nature (13% vs. 41%, p<0.001). After the killing, mothers tried to get rid of the body more often than fathers (25% vs. 7%, p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Fathers who commit filicide may represent at least two subgroups, the one not unlike the common homicide offender; the other, the overloaded, working and suicidal father. Mothers may include several types of offenders, one of which is the neonaticide offender. More detailed descriptions and, therefore, more research are needed.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Distressed parents and families need support and health care personnel, social work and other officials need to be alert to notice fatigued parents' signs of despair, especially when several stressful experiences amass. Straightforward enquiry to the situation and even practical and psychological help may be needed for enhanced protection of children. The role of employers should also be discussed in relation to the welfare of working parents.

Gender differences in jurors' perceptions of infanticide involving disabled and non-disabled infant victims

OBJECTIVES

The present study investigated the influence of juror gender and infant victim disability on jurors' reactions to infanticide cases.

METHODS

Participants (men and women undergraduates) read a summary of a mock trial involving alleged father-perpetrated infanticide. The infant was described as severely mentally disabled or as not disabled. Participants completed a series of case-related judgments (e.g., guilt; sentence; and empathy, sympathy, and similarity toward the defendant and victim).

RESULTS

There were pervasive gender differences such that compared to men, women mock jurors rendered more guilty verdicts, perceived the father/defendant as having greater intent to kill his infant, and felt less similar to the defendant. Compared to men, women also believed the father was more responsible and the pneumonia was less responsible for the infant's death, had less sympathy and empathy for the defendant, endorsed more negative beliefs about the father, and were more likely to believe the infant was a unique person. Mediational analyses revealed that these statistically significant effects were explained, in part, by gender differences in attitudes toward the defendant. Further, whether the infant victim was portrayed as severely disabled (versus developmentally normal) had little effect on central case judgments such as verdict, but jurors who believed the infant was severely disabled gave significantly shorter sentences to the defendant, were less likely to perceive the defendant as mentally ill, and felt significantly less empathy for and similarity to the infant victim.

CONCLUSIONS

Although juror gender consistently predicted juror's judgments, there were fewer effects of disability status. Even so, bias against disabled infants manifested for several dependant variables.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

This research can inform legal professionals about the potential for bias in juror decision-making, and in turn, help facilitate fairness and justice for the youngest and most vulnerable victims of child abuse.