Family Authority, Violence against Parents, and Parricide in Russia, 1600–1800

Abstract

The abuse of parents is regarded to be an increasing problem in contemporary society. It is often seen as a new phenomenon marking the dysfunctional nature of the modern family. This article provides arguments to the contrary, focusing on the analysis of the abuse of parents and parricide in early modern Russia, where the concept of the patriarchal and traditional family served as a basis for the prosecution of any disrespect to parental authority. This article offers an in-depth analysis of the normative concepts of family relationships, the criminal prosecution of parricide, and the abuse of parents based on an examination of court records. This article highlights the major developments in the construction of parricides within normative legal, social, and political discourses to argue that parricide challenged the established patriarchal hierarchy; the authorities thus normalized it through normative gender-appropriate behavior, constructing responses to male and female behavior based on the common understanding of their respective abilities and limitations in respect to violence.

Attempted and Completed Parricides in South Africa, 1990–2019

“…Under South African law, parricide is defined as the killing of a near blood relative (Bell et al., 1951). This expansive definition of parricide is consistent with the practices of Asian and eastern and southern European countries that include extended family members in their definitions, as well as previous studies that have included them in the definition of parricides in international settings (Gabbiani, 2013; Muravyeva, 2016). Consequently, this study also uses the term “parricide” to refer to the killing of mothers, fathers, or superordinate elders such as uncles, aunts, grandparents, and in-laws by subordinate family members such as children, nephews, nieces, grandchildren, and sons/daughters-in-law.…”

Offence, offender, and victim characteristics in South Korean filicides, 1948–1962: A descriptive study

“…Wolfgang, 1958) and parricides (e.g. Muravyeva, 2016) but inconsistent with the filicide literature. This finding does not resonate with the extant filicide literature because adult offspring have been defined out of the offence category.…”

Multiple‐victim parricides in South Africa, 1990–2019

“…Previous researchers have shown that fathers and sons become embroiled in arguments that turn into lethal fights in the context of recreation, discipline, and domestic disputes. This pattern of conflict has been shown to occur across the world—Scotland, Russia, United States, Finland, South Korea—in scenes of violence between fathers and adult sons (author; Boag, 2014; Kilday, 2016; Muravyeva, 2016; Muravyeva & Toivo, 2016). This interaction between fathers and sons unfolds in a way that parallels the exchanges between two men, as described by sociologists (Polk, 1994) and historians who have examined masculine violence in the past (Gorn, 1985).…”

“…States, Finland, South Korea-in scenes of violence between fathers and adult sons (author; Boag, 2014;Kilday, 2016;Muravyeva, 2016;Muravyeva & Toivo, 2016). This interaction between fathers and sons unfolds in a way that parallels the exchanges between two men, as described by sociologists (Polk, 1994) and historians who have examined masculine violence in the past (Gorn, 1985).…”

“…Prior research in multigenerational households, especially in Asian and European contexts (Toivo, 2016), has found that the meddlesome practises of elderly figures who intrude into the daily lives of offspring become fodders for conflict even as offspring age into adulthood and contribute in significant ways to parricides (Chilton, 2002). As a point of comparison, mothers and fathers-in-law routinely appeared as victims in scenes of parricide in South Korea and Russia, as women married and moved into their husbands' households and the domestic conflicts between daughters-in-law and their in-laws erupted into fatal violence (Muravyeva, 2013(Muravyeva, , 2016. The multigenerational character of households in South Africa shapes the victimisation patterns in similar ways.…”