Murder of the Newborn: A Psychiatric Review of Neonaticide

Resnick, Phillip J.

doi:10.1176/ajp.126.10.1414

Cited by 420 publications

(289 citation statements)

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“…Three general terms based on the age of the victims have been used in the family violence research literature to describe fatal abuse: neonaticide (e.g., Arboleda-Florez, 1976;Bonnet, 1993;D'Orban, 1979;Resnick, 1970), infanticide (e.g., Arboleda-Florez, 1975;Dumme, 1978;Hontela & Reddon, 1996), and filicide (e.g., Holden, Burland, & Lemmen, 1996;Husain & Daniel, 1984;Resnick, 1969). Typically, the neonaticide victim ranges in age from birth to 24 hours, the infanticide victim ranges in age from birth to 1 year, and the filicide victim ranges in age from birth to 18 years (Pitt & Bale, 1995).…”

Section: Different Types Of Fatal Abuse?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

Lucas

Wezner

Milner

et al. 2002

Child Abuse & Neglect

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Objective: The present study describes factors related to fatal abuse in three age groups in the United States Air Force (USAF). Method: Records from 32 substantiated cases of fatal child abuse in the USAF were independently reviewed for 60 predefined factors. Results: Males were over-represented in young child victims (between 1 year and 4 years of age) and child victims (between 4 years and 15 years of age) but not in infant victims (between 24 hours and 1 year of age). African-American infant victims and perpetrators were over-represented. Younger victims were more likely to have been previously physically abused by the perpetrator. Perpetrators were predominantly male and the biological fathers of the victims. Infant and young child perpetrators reported childhood abuse histories, while child perpetrators reported the highest frequency of mental health contact. Victims' families reported significant life stressors. Families of young child victims were more likely divorced, separated, or single. Incidents with infants and young children tended to occur without witnesses; incidents with child victims tended to have the victim's sibling(s) and/or mother present. Fatal incidents were more frequent on the weekend, in the home, and initiated by some family disturbance. Conclusions: Differences among groups in factors related to infant and child homicide across age groups may assist in the development of more tailored abuse prevention efforts and may also guide future investigations.

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Section: Different Types Of Fatal Abuse?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

Lucas

Wezner

Milner

et al. 2002

Child Abuse & Neglect

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“…Les infanticides désignent le meurtre d'un enfant de moins d'un an et les néonaticides, terme plus précis proposé par Resnick en 1970 [15], définissent le meurtre d'un nouveau-né dans ses premières vingtquatre heures de vie. Ces crimes visant des nouveau-nés ont existé de tout temps et de tout temps on a cherché à les comprendre, leur trouver une logique, leur donner un sens.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Le portrait des mères néonaticides dans les expertises judiciaires

2013

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Recherche financée par l'Observatoire National de l'Enfance en Danger, la région Ile-de-France, la Fondation pour la recherche en Psychiatrie et en santé mentale, la Fondation Wyeth pour la santé de l'enfant et de l'adolescent.Remerciements à Pascale Gerbouin-Rérolle responsable du recueil des données. 3The profile of neonaticide mothers in legal expertise Key words: infanticide, maternal behaviour, personality, intergenerational relations, forensic psychiatry. IntroductionNeonaticide is the term used to refer to the killing of newborn infants within the first twenty-four hours of life. A recent study conducted by INSERM Unit 750 found a frequency of 2.1 cases of neonaticide for 100,000 births in France. The persistence of these crimes raises serious issues, and scientists have attempted to explain this by the profile of neonaticidal mothers: young, or even teenage, single, primiparous, and socially deprived. The present study sought to question this profile, and to suggest a new profile for neonaticidal mothers. Data and methodsThis retrospective study over the years 1996-2000 comprised 32 cases of neonaticide perpetrated in three French regions. 17 solved cases of these 32 cases generated 54 documents by expert consultants, mainly psychiatric and psychological expertise, studied and analysed here using Modalisa software for quantitative analyses and Nvivo software for qualitative data. ResultsNo single socio-demographic profile was observed. The mothers were in contrasting situations at the time of the event. There were few psychotic profiles. The other psychopathological disturbances detected were very often related to the event. The most surprising feature in the expert reports describing the neonaticidal mothers was the existence of what we have termed descriptive absent-factors. These mothers had not experienced major trauma in childhood such as the death of persons close or foster care.They were not living in an environment of family violence. They did not exhibit addictive or self-harm behaviours. Their parents before them had similar profiles, except three cases of alcoholism. Their parentage, and that of the infants, was not an issue. The most widely described personality features were immaturity, dependency on others, withdrawal, inhibition, emptiness, lack of affectivity, nonexpressiveness, and devaluation of self-image. The very impoverished relational environment of these mothers also appears in the expertise data. Their affective and relational foundations were insecure. DiscussionThe "classic" profile of the neonaticidal mother as being young, single, and primiparous is not confirmed in this study. Recent American and European studies reach similar conclusions. More than half of these mothers already had other children, more than half were living with a partner. Nor did these mothers have an evident psychopathological profile, and even less so a psychopathic profile. This study suggests a "psycho-relational" profile for the neonaticidal mother: immature, affectively dependent, expressing herself...

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“…L'examen des écrits montre que les parents ayant tué leur nouveau-né sont majoritairement des femmes (Crittenden et Craig, 1990 ;Rodenburg, 1971 ;Marks et Kumar, 1993, 1996. En effet, on retrouve peu de cas de néonaticides paternels (Adelson, 1991 ;Resnick, 1969 ;Kaye, Borenstein et Donnelly, 1990).…”

unclassified

“…Il existe depuis Resnick (1969) une tradition de classification selon divers critères. Les gestes néonaticides forment une catégorie précise dans plusieurs systèmes de classification (Alder et Baker, 1997 ;Bourget et Bradford, 1990 ;Cheung, 1986 ;d'Orban, 1979 ;Rohde et al, 1998 ;Sadoff, 1995 ;Somander et Rammer, 1991 ;Vanamo et al, 2001 ;Wilkey et al, 1982).…”

unclassified

“…Leur motivation peut différer des femmes plus âgées, plus souvent mariées, ayant d'autres enfants et dont le conjoint n'était pas au courant de la grossesse. Aussi, Green et Manohar (1990) suggère qu'il existe deux sous-groupes de femmes néonaticides : celles qui sont immatures et paniquent avant le passage à l'acte et celles qui préméditent leur geste (Resnick, 1970).…”

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Cinq cas de néonaticide au Québec

Dubé¹,

Léveillée

Marleau

2004

smq

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Le néonaticide est l’homicide d’un enfant né depuis moins de 24 heures, commis presque exclusivement par la mère. Les données actuelles décrivent ces parents comme des femmes jeunes, célibataires, ayant caché leur grossesse et leur accouchement, immatures et paniquant au moment du passage à l’acte. Cinq vignettes provenant de l’étude de dossiers du Coroner en chef du Québec sont présentées afin de vérifier si ce type d’homicide représente un groupe homogène et correspond à ce qu’on retrouve dans les écrits depuis trois décennies. D’après les données recueillies pour 1986-1994, l’immaturité, le déni et la grossesse non désirée caractérisent un sous-groupe de femmes adolescentes, un autre sous-groupe de femmes plus âgées vivent l’angoisse d’une séparation lors du passage à l’acte. Des implications cliniques et théoriques sont discutées en rapport avec la notion de sous-groupes.A neonaticide is the homicide of an infant that occurs during the first 24 hours after birth. This homicide is almost exclusively done by the mother. According to previous data, the parent who commits such homicide is a single woman, who usually conceals her pregnancy and delivers secretly either at home or in the workplace and panics at this very moment. Five vignettes are selected from the files of the Québec Coroner. The cases are presented in order to verify if these women represent a homogeneous group, as research of the last thirty years has demonstrated. According to data for the period between 1986 and 1994, the deceased newborns are boys, and the teenage mothers have personalities that are characterized by immaturity. In this group, denial of pregnancy is a temporary state that may vary in depth among individuals. Moreover, they did not want to be pregnant. One older group of women experience separation anxiety at the time of commiting the neonaticide. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed in link with these two sub-groups.El neonaticidio es el homicidio de un recién nacido de menos de 24 horas, cometido casi exclusivamente por la madre. Los datos actuales describen a estos padres como mujeres jóvenes, solteras, que han escondido su embarazo y parto, inmaduras y con pánico en el momento de pasar al acto. Se presentan cinco viñetas, provenientes del estudio de los expedientes del Jefe del Servicio Médico Forense del Quebec, a fin de verificar si este tipo de homicidio representa a un grupo homogéneo y corresponde a lo que se encuentra en los escritos desde hace tres décadas. De acuerdo con los datos recopilados en 1986-1994, todos los recién nacidos son niños, la inmadurez, la negación y el embarazo no deseado caracterizan a un subgrupo de mujeres adolescentes. Otro subgrupo de mujeres de mayor edad vive la angustia de una separación en el momento de pasar al acto. Se discuten las implicaciones clínicas y teóricas con relación a la noción de subgrupos.O infanticídio é o homicídio de uma criança nascida em menos de 24 horas, cometido quase exclusivamente pela mãe. Os dados atuais descrevem estas mães como mulheres jovens,...

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Murder of the Newborn: A Psychiatric Review of Neonaticide

Cited by 420 publications

References 4 publications

Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

Le portrait des mères néonaticides dans les expertises judiciaires

Cinq cas de néonaticide au Québec

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