Matricide by Mentally Disordered Sons

Abstract

Matricide is one of the rarest of reported murders and has always been considered one of the most abhorrent crimes. Psychiatric investigations as to why a son might murder his mother yield indications of a high rate of mental illness, primarily psychotic disorders, in perpetrators. In an attempt to gain an in-depth understanding of the role of the mother-son bond in the etiology of matricide by mentally disordered sons, this article presents a qualitative study of nine cases of matricide examined at two Italian Forensic Psychiatry Departments between 2005 and 2010 and retrospective analysis of forensic psychiatry reports on the offenders. Most matricides suffered from psychotic disorders, especially schizophrenia. Nevertheless, not all the perpetrators had psychotic symptoms at the time of the crime. A "pathologic" mother-son bond was found in all cases. However, mental illness is not the only variable related to matricide and, taken alone, is not enough to explain the crime. Several factors in the history of the mother and son need to be probed, especially how their relationship developed over the years. The peculiar dynamics of the mother-son relationship and the unique personalities and life experiences of both subjects are the real key to cases of matricide.

Health Professionals as Mothers of Adult Children With Schizophrenia

“…The majority of the mothers reported fears of violence or had already been assaulted by their children. Research on the risk of matricide by children diagnosed with schizophrenia (Catanesi et al, 2015) supported the validity of the mothers' concerns for their personal safety. Studies indicated that the prevalence of societal prejudice against people with schizophrenia was fuelled by media reports of aggressive incidents and that mentally ill people were more likely to be the victims rather than the perpetrators of violence (Angermeyer et al, 2013;Koike et al, 2018).…”

Matricide and schizophrenia- psychopathological, psychodynamic, and forensic aspects: a case report

“…In cases of matricide it is common the existence of relationship difficulties with the opposite sex, and only immature attempts were made, to separate from the mother and build an independent affective relationship, as in the case in question. The absence of the father figure may contribute to accentuate the complex mother–child relationship, favoring the creation of an exclusive and restricted bond that the child perceives as suffocating, which will contribute to an aggressive behavior against the mother ( 15 ).…”

Victim–perpetrator relationship, age and method of homicide in intimate and non-intimate cases of femicide from the republic of Ireland

“…30 Studies have reported high rates of mental illness in sons that kill their mothers with schizophrenia and other psychoses commonly encountered. 31 The method of killing depended on the relationship and age of the victim and perpetrator. Studies in the United States have shown that adolescents and young adults are frequently the victims of femicide by their intimate partners.…”