Child Murder by Depressed Parents^*

Abstract

Although it is common practice to try to assess the risk of suicide in depressed patients the possibility of homicidal tendencies is often overlooked. Homicidal acts are frequently directed towards children by either parents or strangers and there is also a risk that children may be killed by parents suffering from severe depressive illness. It is proposed that early recognition might lead to the prevention of this type of crime. The terms infanticide, filicide, and neonaticide are used idiosyncratically by the different authors and may therefore be confusing. Infanticide in Canada is a medicolegal term; it indicates a relationship between child murder and child birth. All other cases of child killings are designated as murder. In Canada there were 1,276 incidents of homicide over a period of five years, (19641968). Of these 141 (11 per cent) were incidents of child murder - child murder being defined as the killing of a person 16 years and under. Seventy-six (54 per cent) of these were caused by parents, 41 were mothers and 35 were fathers. The mothers killed their children only, but 40 per cent of the fathers also murdered their wives. Suicide or attempted suicide following the crime was more likely to occur in those cases where the father was the assailant. Most children killed by their parents are between one and five years of age. Sixty-five (46 per cent) of child murders were caused by non-relatives and 32 per cent of these assaulted their victims sexually, the crime occurring most frequently in the evening. The dynamics of child murder by depressed parents has been reviewed. It is proposed that a child is particularly vulnerable when a depressive illness is superimposed upon a constellation of parental factors which can be recognized and specified.

Paternal Filicide: A Study of 10 Men

“…Little research on filicide uses large samples of fathers (1,8,(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17), compared with the amount of information available concerning similar offences committed by mothers (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29). Many factors are associated with paternal filicide.…”

Infanticide: Some Medicolegal Considerations

“…They often deny that they are pregnant or assume that the child will be stillborn. At childbirth the baby is flushed down a toilet, placed in a drawer or disposed of in some other way (18,20). A cool premeditation of the murder seems to be a frequent finding in neonaticide.…”

“…One hundred and forty-one (11 percent) were child murders with a total of 189 child victims (20 Infanticide Act, 1938, reads: "1) Where a woman by any wilful act or omission causes the death of her child, being a child under the age of twelve months, but at the time of the act or omission the balance of her mind was disturbed by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effects of giving birth to the child or by reason of the effect of lactation consequent upon the birth of the child, then, notwithstanding that the circumstances were such that for the Act the offence would have amounted to murder, she shall be guilty of felony, to wit of infanticide ... " (19).…”

Filicide: Historical review and prevention of child death by parent

“…(Tuteur & Glotzer, 1959, p. ). It has been theorized that depressed and psychotic perpetrators project their own misery onto their offspring and conclude that murder is the only humane way to relieve their child's "suffering" (Rodenburg, 1971).…”