• Source: Filicide

Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent killing their own child. The word filicide is derived from the Latin words filius and filia ('son' and 'daughter') and the suffix -cide, from the word caedere meaning 'to kill'. The word can refer to both the crime and perpetrator of the crime.




Statistics


A 1999 U.S. Department of Justice study concluded that mothers were responsible for a higher share of children killed during infancy between 1976 and 1997 in the United States, while fathers were more likely to have been responsible for the murders of children aged eight or older. Parents were responsible for 61% of child murders under the age of five. Sometimes, there is a combination of murder and suicide in filicide cases. On average, according to FBI statistics, 450 children are murdered by their parents each year in the United States.
An in-depth longitudinal study of 297 cases convicted of filicide and 45 of filicide-suicide in the United Kingdom between 1997 and 2006 showed that 37% of the perpetrators had a recorded mental illness at the time. The most common diagnoses were mood disorders and personality disorders rather than psychosis, but the latter accounted for 15% of cases. However – similar to findings in a large Danish study – the majority had not had contact with mental health services prior to the murders, and few had received treatment. Female perpetrators were more likely to have given birth as teenagers. Fathers were more likely to have been convicted of violent offences and have a history of substance misuse, and were more likely to kill multiple victims. Infants were more likely to be victims than older children, and a link to post-partum depression was suggested.




Types of filicide


Dr. Phillip Resnick published research on filicide in 1969 and stated that there were five main motives for filicide, including "altruistic", "fatal maltreatment", "unwanted child", "acutely psychotic" and "spousal revenge". "Altruistic" killings occur because the parent believes that the world is too cruel for the child, or because the child is enduring suffering (whether this is actually occurring or not). In fatal maltreatment killings, the goal is not always to kill the child, but death may occur anyway, and Munchausen syndrome by proxy is in that category. Spousal revenge killings are killings of children done to indirectly harm a domestic partner; they do not frequently occur. Glen Carruthers, author of "Making sense of spousal revenge filicide", argued that those who engage in spousal revenge killings see their own children as objects.




Children at risk


In 2013, in the United States, homicide was in the top five causes of deaths of children, and in the top three causes of death in children between 1 and 4 years old. A direct correlation has been identified between child abuse rates and child homicide rates. Research suggests that children murdered by their parents were physically abused by them prior to their death.
In South Asia and the Middle East, many homicide cases were due to parents killing their children after being accused of violating the family's reputation; daughters were most likely to be murdered in these killings.




Notable examples






Gallery






See also


Foeticide, the killing of a fetus
Neonaticide, the killing of a child during the first 24 hours of life
Infanticide, the killing of an infant from birth to 12 months
Child murder, the murder of a child in general
Filial cruelty, cruelty toward one's own child
Child abuse, cruelty toward any child
Avunculicide, the killing of one's uncle
Fratricide, the killing of one's brother
Mariticide, the killing of one's husband
Matricide, the killing of one's mother
Nepoticide, the killing of one's nephew
Parricide, the killing of one's parents or another close relative
Patricide, the killing of one's father
Sororicide, the killing of one's sister
Uxoricide, the killing of one's wife or girlfriend
Nepticide, the killing of one's niece
Amiticide, the killing of one's aunt
La Llorona
Medea
Honor killing, murder of a person for violating the strict reputation of the family.




References






= Works cited

=
Beevor, Antony (2002). Berlin: The Downfall 1945. London: Viking-Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-670-03041-5.
Bomati, Yves; Nahavandi, Houchang (1998). Shah Abbas, empereur de Perse 1587–1629 [Shah Abbas, Emperor of Persia, 1587–1629] (in French). Paris, France: Perrin. ISBN 2-2620-1131-1. LCCN 99161812.
Drummond, Andrew (2012). "Iunius Brutus, Lucius". In Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony; Eidinow, Esther (eds.). The Oxford classical dictionary (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-954556-8. OCLC 959667246.
Guthrie, Patrick (1966). "The Execution of Crispus". Phoenix. 20 (4): 325–331. doi:10.2307/1087057. JSTOR 1087057.
Pohlsander, Hans A. (1984). "Crispus: Brilliant Career and Tragic End". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 33 (1).




Further reading


Douglas, John; Olshaker, Mark (1996). Journey Into Darkness. United Kingdom: Arrow Books. ISBN 978-0-749-32394-3.
Meyer, Cheryl; Oberman, Michelle; White, Kelly (2001). Mothers who Kill Their Children. New York University Press. ISBN 0-814-75643-3
Rascovsky, Arnaldo (1995). Filicide: The Murder, Humiliation, Mutilation, Denigration, and Abandonment of Children by Parents. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-568-21456-6.




External links


Classifications and Descriptions of Parents Who Commit Filicide (PDF)
CRG 52/14-15: Filicide in Australia, 2000–2012 A National Report

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