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Filicide

Painting by Peter Paul Rubens of Cronus devouring one of his children

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.[1] Parents were responsible for 61% of child murders under the age of five.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4]

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".[5] "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.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8]

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.[9]

Notable examples

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ Greenfeld, Lawrence A.; Snell, Tracy L. (2000-03-10). "Women Offenders" (PDF). NCJ 175688. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-03. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
  2. ^ Friedman, S. H.; Horwitz, S. M.; Resnick, P. J. (2005). "Child murder by mothers: A critical analysis of the current state of knowledge and a research agenda". Am J Psychiatry. 162 (9): 1578–1587. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.9.1578. PMID 16135615.
  3. ^ Hoyer, Marisol Bello, and Meghan. "Parents who do the unthinkable -- kill their children". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Findings from most in-depth study into UK parents who kill their children". University of Manchester. 5 April 2013. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Spousal revenge rare motive for killing kids, experts say". CTV News. 2010-11-16. Archived from the original on 2021-08-21. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  6. ^ Carruthers, Glen (July–August 2016). "Making sense of spousal revenge filicide". Aggression and Violent Behavior. 29: 30–35. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2016.05.007.
  7. ^ Jiaquan Xu; et al. (February 16, 2016). "Deaths: Final Data for 2013" (PDF). cdc.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  8. ^ Holmes, Ronald M.; Holmes, Stephen T. (2001). Murder in America. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc. p. 116.
  9. ^ "Why do families kill their daughters?". BBC News. 2014-05-29. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  10. ^ Stone, Lawson (2016). Joshua, Judges, Ruth. Tyndale House. p. 358. ISBN 9781414398792. Archived from the original on 1 June 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2018. But did Jephthah actually offer his daughter as a burnt offering? The majority view for centuries has been that he did.
  11. ^ Drummond 2012, p. 765.
  12. ^ "LacusCurtius • Dionysius' Roman Antiquities — Book V Chapters 1‑20". penelope.uchicago.edu. Archived from the original on 1 June 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
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  14. ^ John Rich, Graham Shipley (1993). War and Society in the Roman World. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-12167-1.
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  18. ^ Theobald, Ulrich. "Jin Midi 金日磾". ChinaKnowledge.de. Ulrich Theobald. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  19. ^ Dio Cassius, 58.11.7
  20. ^ Suetonius, Vitellius, 6
  21. ^ Sanguozhi vol. 33.
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  23. ^ Pohlsander 1984, p. 101.
  24. ^ Cutler & Hollingsworth (1991), pp. 501–502
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  26. ^ Lord Kinross: The Ottoman Centuries, (Trans. by Nilifer Epçeli) Altın Kitaplar, İstanbul, 2008, ISBN 978-975-21-0955-1 p. 49
  27. ^ "Three Child Martyrs of Tlaxcala". Saints SQPN. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  28. ^ "Tlaxcala, Martyrs of, Bb". Encyclopedia.com. 2003. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  29. ^ "Table of Contents". mateo.uni-mannheim.de. Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  30. ^ "A General History of the Near East, Chapter 13". xenohistorian.faithweb.com. Archived from the original on 2018-05-06. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  31. ^ Karamzin, Nikolay. "9". Продолжение царстования Иоанна Грозного. Г. 1577–1582 [Continuation of the reign of Ivan the Terrible. 1577–1582]. History of the Russian State (in Russian). Vol. 9.
  32. ^ Klyuchevsky, Vasily. Курс русской истории [A History of Russia] (in Russian). Saint Petersburg.
  33. ^ Sebag Montefiore, Simon (2016). The Romanovs 1613–1918. Vintage. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-307-28051-0.
  34. ^ Bomati & Nahavandi 1998, pp. 235–236
  35. ^ Bomati & Nahavandi 1998, pp. 236–237
  36. ^ Sebag Montefiore, Simon (2016). The Romanovs. United Kingdom: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-307-28051-0.
  37. ^ Massie, Robert K. (1980). Peter the Great: His Life and World. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 76, 377, 707. ISBN 978-0-307-29145-5.

Works cited

Further reading

External links