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Incidents of neonaticide, filicide and infanticide, causes and perpetrators
Neonaticide is generally defined as "the homicide of an infant aged one week or less." Infanticide in general usage is defined as "the homicide of a person older than one week but less than one year of age." Filicide is defined as "the homicide of a child (less than eighteen years of age) by his or her parent or stepparent."
Until the fourth century, infanticide was neither illegal nor immoral. Complete parental control of the father over the life of his child was dictated by both early Greek and Roman laws. Patria potestas refers to the power of the Roman father to decide the fate of his child, even before birth. However, if a mother killed her child she would be punished by death.
During the course of man infanticide resulted from a wide range of reasons. Gender selection, abnormality, poverty, punishment, population control, sacrifice and illegitimacy to name a few. For the purposes of this discourse only the modern day incidents and reasons will be examined. We do not seek to assess any blame or make any recommendation for care or treatment but are merely providing raw data, interpretations of that data and a suggestion for an overall societal approach to this problem.
Before reading further review these raw statistics and psychological opinions.
*Many researchers believe that child fatalities are under-reported because some deaths labeled as accidents or SIDS are, in fact, homicides. * In 1995 the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect estimated that nearly 2,000 infants and young children die each year from abuse or neglect. (1) *Approximately 15 to 30 percent of all mothers who kill their children commit suicide. Of the fathers who murder their children, 40 to 60 percent commit suicide. * Waneta Hoyt claimed to have lost all five of her children to SIDS, leading researchers to suspect SIDS ran in families and was caused by sleep apnea. In 1995 Hoyt confessed to suffocating all five of her children. * Mothers who kill their older children (filicide) are frequently older, married, psychotic, depressed, or suicidal. Filicides tend to kill as a result of their psychosis, for altruistic reasons (to relieve child of suffering), accidentally (as in battered child syndrome), or to seek revenge on a spouse. (2) * The American Psychiatric Association first recognized postpartum depression (PPD) in 1994. Since then, American courts have begun to recognize PPD as a legitimate defense, although it has rarely been used successfully. Approximately 20 percent of all new mothers experience PPD, a serious and lasting depression. (3) * Among children under age 5 years in the United States who were murdered in the last quarter of the 20th century, 61% were killed by their own parents: 30% were killed by their mothers, and 31% by their fathers. (4) * Groups of mothers who committed "purposeful homicide" often killed their children in the context of mental illness, failed relationships, and "devotion" to the child. (5) * More than 200 women a year kill their children in the United States. (6) * Women are more likely to experience psychiatric illness after childbirth than at any other time in their life (7) * Ten to 22% percent of women experience PPD before the infant’s first birthday. (8) * According to one study, sixty-seven percent of women who kill their children are mentally ill, as opposed to only 6 % of those who kill their spouses (9) * "Spousal revenge" filicide encompasses parents who murder their offspring in a deliberate attempt to make their spouse suffer. (10)
Post Partum Depression (PPD)
PPD is characterized by feelings of despondency, inadequacy as a mother, impaired concentration and memory function as well as loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were formerly enjoyable. In addition, the mother experiences excessive anxiety about the infant’s well-being. Mothers with postpartum depression are reluctant to share their upset emotions because they do not want others to think of them as a bad mother.
Though debilitating, the emotional reactions to being a new mom that signify depression are not as severe as those associated with postpartum psychosis, of which the predominant symptom is a “break” with reality—a loss of the ability to discern what is real from what is not.
Fifty percent or more of women who had a previous episode of postpartum depression experienced relapse following a subsequent pregnancy. (11) The most dangerous period for the victims is the first six months of life. This is the time of maternal post-partum psychoses and depressions. The younger the child, the more likely is the suicidal mother to think of the child as a personal possession and feel inseparable from the baby.
Commentary and Analysis
Studies of maternal filicide offenders drawn from psychiatric populations in the United States noted high rates of psychosis, depression, suicidal tendency, prior use of psychiatric services, and, in some studies, decreased intelligence. Mothers who committed filicide were more frequently married, compared with neonaticidal mothers, and had a high frequency of unemployment, alcohol use, and personal history of abuse.
Maternal filicide offenders in the studies of U.S. correctional populations were frequently victims of abuse themselves. Many had limited education, poor social support, and a history of substance abuse. In addition, they were often unmarried and unemployed, and some viewed the child they killed as abnormal.
Administrative records sample studies of maternal filicide conducted outside the United States found mental illness (psychosis, depression with suicidal tendency) in approximately one-half of the mothers. Some of these studies noted histories of child abuse and domestic violence, and some noted child-related factors, such as persistent crying, as precipitants of the mothers’ violence. Mothers who committed filicide were frequently socio-economically disadvantaged and had primary responsibility for their children. Studies of psychiatric samples conducted outside the United States noted high rates of psychiatric symptoms, particularly depression and psychosis, as well as prior use of psychiatric services, prior psychiatric admissions, and suicidal tendencies. The mothers often experienced considerable life stress, including being abused themselves. Filicidal mothers in non-U.S. correctional populations were also likely to have a history of previous use of psychiatric services and high rates of mental illness (depression and psychosis). The mothers in these cases of filicide were likely to have social and economic stresses, a history of abuse, unsupportive partners, primary caregiver status, and difficulties caring for the child. (12)
We should detach from the idea of universal motherhood as natural and see it as a social response," Nancy Scheper-Hughes, medical anthropologist says. Women in jail reported that no-one believed them when they said they wanted to kill their children. "There's a collective denial even when mothers come right out and say, "I really shouldn't be trusted with my kids."
Conclusion
Although it may be difficult to characterize exactly who will be the killers of their own children there are patterns, behaviours and situations we can look to for guidance. Although in children aged five and under both father's and mother's are equally responsible for murdering their children the incidents of maternal filicide are likely much more preventable.
The mother who kills her child is most likely not living with the father, is young and has little income or education. One out of three times she was abused as a child. The majority of time she has been treated or medicated for a mental condition. Two out of three times she is mentally ill at the time.
Acts of desperation are often made prior to the act. Some mothers report telling people they were going to kill their child or themselves. Others show signs of depression, have hallucinations or engage in self-harm. Abuse of drugs or alcohol is also a factor.
Some mothers have exhibited an ownership or extension of their body view of the child. They exhibit behaviours that demonstrate a feeling that the child cannot live without them. That they are the only person who can provide for the child. That they are protecting the child and appear to be over-protective. These have all been demonstrated by mothers who later killed their children.
Parents, friends, co-workers, school counselors, the psychiatric community and the courts need to be aware of the risks posed to children by mothers who exhibit these behaviours. Society as a whole must change the expectations that is puts upon mother to be the lone care giver. Active involvement by the father's is a must. Young parents, especially students, must be viewed as child who need our assistance not one who need our condemnation. Seeking help must not be viewed as being a failing parent but a caring parent who is seeking to improve the child's condition.
Most important is the concept that the best parent is two parents.
Patricia Blackmon was 29 years old when she killed her two-year-old adopted daughter in Dothan, AL in May 1999. Debra Jean Milke was 25 when she killer her four-year-old son in Arizona in 1989. Dora Luz Durenrostro killed her two daughters, age four and nine, and her son, age 8, when she was 34 years old in San Jacinto, California in 1994. Caro Socorro was 42 years old when she killer her three sons, age five, eight and 11, in Santa Rosa Valley, California in 1999. Susan Eubanks murdered her four sons, ages four, six, seven, and 14, in San Marcos, California, in 1996 when she was 33. Caroline Young was 49 in Haywood, California when she killed her four-year-old granddaughter and six-year-old grandson. Robin Lee Row was 35 years old when she killed her husband, her 10-year-old son and her eight-year-old daughter in Boise, Idaho in 1992. Michelle Sue Tharp was 29 years old in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania when she killed her seven-year-old daughter. Franic Elaine Newton was 21 when she murdered her husband, seven-year-old son and two-year-old daughter in Houston, Texas. Darlie Lynn Routier was 26 in Rowlett, Texas when she killed her five-year-old son. Teresa Michelle Lewis killer her 51-year-old husband and 26-year-old step son in Keeling, Virgina when she was 33 years old.
Bibliography
1) U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect. "A Nation's Shame: Fatal Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States." Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1995. 2) Resnick, Phillip J. "Murder of the Newborn: A Psychiatric Review of Neonaticide." American Journal of Psychiatry 126 (1970):58–64. 3) American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition. Washington, DC: Author, 1994. 4) Ewigman B, Kivlahan C, Land G: The Missouri Child Fatality Study: underreporting of maltreatment fatalities among children younger than five years of age. Pediatrics 1993; 91:330–337 5) Meyer CL, Oberman M: Mothers Who Kill Their Children: Understanding the Acts of Moms From Susan Smith to the "Prom Mom." New York, New York University Press, 2001 6) American Anthropological Association 7) Kendell et al, 1987 8) Stowe et al., 2001 9) Silverman and Kennedy, 1988 10) Wilczynski, 1997 11) Gold, 2001. 12) Child Murder by Mothers: A Critical Analysis of the Current State of Knowledge and a Research Agenda Susan Hatters Friedman, M.D., Sarah McCue Horwitz, Ph.D., and Phillip J. Resnick, M.D.
