Familicide: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Familicides have received relatively little attention and are mostly discussed in studies with broader aims. Here, we reviewed 67 studies from 18 countries on familicides, in which an offender killed or attempted to kill their current or former spouse/intimate partner and one or more of their biological or stepchildren. We conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. Eight studies investigated familicide specifically, while the remaining reported on familicide cases as a subsample. We retrieved data on offenders’ gender, age, and background as well as on victims and their relationship to the offender. We also retrieved data on contextual factors and offense characteristics (i.e., modus operandi, offense location, premeditation, and whether or not the offender had committed suicide). We also coded methodological aspects of the studies. Familicides were almost exclusively committed by men and about half of the familicide cases led to the suicide of the offender. Mental health problems, relationship problems, and financial difficulties were prevalent. Because few studies reported population base rates of the investigated characteristics, it is difficult to draw conclusions about specific risk factors. Future research should further investigate typologies of familicide and examine risk factors for different types of familicides.

Violent behavior by involuntarily committed female offenders with mental disorders: A population‐based case series

“…Severe mental illness has been associated in certain cases with familicidal behavior, often involving psychotic motivations. Other purportedly associated factors are loss of family control; revenge for the loss of the female partner; fear of abandonment; narcissistic rage; financial difficulties; altruistic urges to defend the family from real or imaginary catastrophes; and instrumental violence [45,46].…”

Violent behavior by women involuntarily committed to a forensic psychiatric hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…Severe mental illness has been associated with certain cases of familicidal behavior, with an emphasis on psychotic motivations. Other purportedly associated factors are: loss of family control; revenge for loss of the female partner; fear of abandonment; narcissistic rage; financial difficulties; altruistic urges to defend the family from real or imaginary catastrophes; and instrumental violence [44][45] . One patient in our sample poisoned and killed her two-year child as revenge for her male partner having left her for another woman.…”

Is familicide a distinct subtype of mass murder? Evidence from a Swiss national cohort

“…According to a literature review of familicides (Karlsson et al, 2019), perpetrator age may be between 35 (Wilson & Daly, 1997) and 43 years (Wilson, Daly, & Daniele, 1995); between 31% (Hamilton, Jaffe, & Campbell, 2013) and 41% (Liem & Koenraadt, 2008) of perpetrators are unemployed; and between 13% (Logan, Walsh, Patel, & Hall, 2013) and 45% (Friedman, Hrouda, Holden, Noffsinger, & Resnick, 2005) have a history of psychiatric treatment. Firearms were used in about a quarter of the small number of cases in Wales (Wilson Daly, & Daniele, 1995), but in nearly three-quarter of the cases in the United States (Liem, Levin, Holland, & Fox, 2013).…”

“…Firearms were used in about a quarter of the small number of cases in Wales (Wilson Daly, & Daniele, 1995), but in nearly three-quarter of the cases in the United States (Liem, Levin, Holland, & Fox, 2013). About half of the perpetrators also completed suicide (Karlsson et al, 2019).…”