Killing your children to hurt your partner: A South African perspective on the motivations for revenge filicide

Moen, Melanie Carmen; Bezuidenhout, Christiaan

doi:10.1002/jip.1603

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 35 publications

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“…However, there were slight differences. Although spousal revenge filicides figure prominently in the clinical literature (e.g., Moen & Bezuidenhout, 2022), they made up a small portion of the putative motivation in Korean filicides. Similarly, our work also found that mentally ill parents kill their children, but that parents also kill mentally ill offspring.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Shon

2023

Journal Invest Psychology

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Filicide is defined as the killing of children from birth to age 18 by a natural or step‐parent. The legal definition of filicide in Korea does not impose such age limits. Although families in contemporary Korea are nuclear in structure, they were multigenerational prior to the industrialisation that occurred during the second half of the twentieth century. While psychiatric and evolutionary theories have been predominantly used in the filicide literature, prior works have neglected to examine how culture shapes violence against one’s offspring. This paper explores the offence, offender, and victim characteristics in South Korean filicides (1948–1962) through a content analysis of a major newspaper (Chosun Ilbo). Results indicate that filicides occur in one‐on‐one contexts, primarily carried out by biological parents against their offspring while adoptive children appeared as victims due to the genealogical customs practiced in Korean society. Results indicate that more than 12% of filicide victims are adults. The implications of our findings are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Shon

2023

Journal Invest Psychology

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Characteristics of Child Fatalities that Occur in the Context of Current or Past Intimate Partner Violence: a Scoping Review

Graham,

Jun,

Kim

et al. 2024

J Fam Viol

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Purpose Childhood exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive problem worldwide. In addition to directly observing or indirectly experiencing IPV, children may be killed because of IPV. To date, research on child IPV-related deaths exists in various, disconnected areas of scholarship, making it difficult to understand how IPV contributes to child fatalities. As such, this scoping review located and synthesized research on child fatalities that resulted from IPV, seeking to understand the state of global research concerning the prevalence and circumstances of IPV-related child fatalities. Methods Using a combination of keywords and subject terms, we systematically searched PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus, PubMed, and seven research repositories. We located empirical studies published in English in peer-reviewed journals that reported findings concerning children (aged 0–17) who were killed because of IPV and/or people who killed children due to IPV. Among 9,502 de-duplicated records, we identified 60 articles that met review inclusion criteria. We extracted and synthesized information concerning research methods, circumstances and consequences of the fatalities, characteristics of people who committed IPV-related homicide of a child, and characteristics of children who died because of IPV. Results Studies were published from 1986–2022 and analyzed data from 23 countries. Most studies did not focus exclusively on IPV-related child homicides, and overall, studies reported sparse information concerning the contexts and circumstances of such fatalities. There were two predominant and distinct groups of children killed due to IPV: children killed by a parent or other adult caregiver and adolescents killed by an intimate partner. It was often difficult to ascertain whether the demographic characteristics of individuals who kill a child in the context of IPV and other contextual details might be similar to or different from child fatalities that occur under different circumstances or for other motivations. Conclusions This review highlighted that children die because of IPV. Findings indicated that such fatalities, while maybe difficult to predict, are often preventable if earlier intervention is made available and professionals are alert to key circumstances in which fatality risk is high. Future research and practice efforts should attend to understanding child fatalities resulting from IPV to identify critical intervention points and strategies that will save children’s lives.

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The offense characteristics of maternal filicides in eSwatini: adding to Resnick’s classification model

Shabangu,

Moen

2024

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionMaternal filicide, the murder of a child by a mother, is a complex phenomenon. Relatively little is known of filicide on the African continent, especially in eSwatini. This study highlights the complex dynamics at play when these crimes are committed.MethodsThis retrospective study explored offense characteristics of maternal filicide cases in eSwatini from 2005 to January 2024. Thirty-one cases were identified through court documents and news reports. Content analysis was conducted on these cases.ResultsThe study revealed that socio-cultural factors such as the role of a woman in society and traditional beliefs contributed to these crimes. Poverty and contextual challenges also contributed to the systemic reasons for these murders. Relationship challenges featured prominently. A unique finding in this study was the use of poison by biological mothers in all the filicide-suicide attempts.DiscussionWe argue for the inclusion of an additional socio-cultural category to Resnick’s classification model. Ultimately, there is a need for further exploration of filicide in eSwatini and other contexts. This would aid in identifying risk factors in pregnant mothers, in young mothers, among couples, and within socio-cultural practices.

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Killing your children to hurt your partner: A South African perspective on the motivations for revenge filicide

Cited by 3 publications

References 35 publications

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

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

Characteristics of Child Fatalities that Occur in the Context of Current or Past Intimate Partner Violence: a Scoping Review

The offense characteristics of maternal filicides in eSwatini: adding to Resnick’s classification model

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