Offspring-Perpetrated Familicide

Abstract

The majority of studies examining familicide involve the male head of the family killing his wife or intimate partner and children. Little research exists on familicide cases involving children killing one or both parents plus other family members (siblings, grandparents, etc.). This study used the National Incident-Based Reporting System, which currently contains arrest data for about 25% of the U.S. population, to examine familicide incidents perpetrated by adult and juvenile offenders over the 20-year period from 1991 to 2010. Fourteen cases of familicide involving two different family victim types were identified. None of these cases involved multiple offenders. Frequencies reported include victim, offender, and incident characteristics. The typical familicide offender was a White male approximately 26 years of age. Firearms predominated as murder weapons in these incidents; however, when a biological mother was one of the victims, offenders used more diverse methods. Only one case of familicide involved a female offender. Newspapers were searched to supplement available case information. Findings from this study were similar to cases identified by Liem and Reichelmann as "extended parricide cases" in their familicide study using Supplementary Homicide Report data. Study limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed.

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

“…We published a case report on the patient with bipolar disorder who killed her mother [58]. It should be noted that many cases of matricide are not associated with mental disorders [59]. There was just one case of personality disorder, while most of the sample has been involuntarily committed because of more severe forms of mental disease.…”

Patricide and overkill: a review of the literature and case report of a murder with Capgras delusion

“…Among clinical factors, an antisocial personality is one of the main risk factors for parricides among juveniles and it is often related with familicides involving parents and other kin [ 3 , 27 ]. It has been observed that children who have grown up in dysfunctional families are at greater risk to develop a conduct disorder, which is a precursor of an antisocial personality disorder [ 2 , 28 – 32 ].…”

Multiple‐victim parricides in South Africa, 1990–2019

“…Cases were retrieved by searching the phrases "murder," "family murder" and "parricide." This type of methodology has been successfully used by a number of previous researchers (Adinkrah, 2017;Boots & Heide, 2006;Fegadel & Heide, 2017;Govender, 2015).…”

“…Once the victims are dead, the need for taking his/her own life is removed (Liem & Reichelmann, 2014). Diffuse conflict familicides involve the prevalence of conflicts in diverse constellations of victims, often including a spouse and in-laws, parents, and other family members (Fegadel & Heide, 2017).…”