One of the crimes in this world that are unfathomable is killing own child. Despite the regularity of the occurrences of such cases, people still find it hard to believe why a parent would deliberately end the life of own child. It is clear that mothers have an unbreakable bond with the child; they connected with blood and love. The reason for is because mothers have the patient and can stand the curiosity and the behaviors of a child. More so, mothers since they carried the pregnancy for nine months and endured pain to deliver they bond greatly with the child. But this is not common now days simply because mothers have turned in murderers and are killing their children for their own selfish reasons. Maternal filicide refers to the act where a mother kills her child, infanticide is when the child is killed before reaching the second year, and neonaticide is killing before 24 hours of life end. Mothers who kill is obvious that they have a mental condition, apart from mental illness, there is severe depression which may arise due to domestic problems. Killer moms are mostly found to have severe mental disorders which include bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depression disorder, or schizoaffective disorder among others. The killing of children by mothers fall in five categories, actively psychotic mother; unplanned death due to neglect; unwanted child; seeking revenge on the spouse; and acute psychotic, where the mother believes that she is being merciful and killing her child will be better than letting him/her live. Most mothers after they kill their children they usually attempt to commit suicide. Other mothers may decide to wipe the whole family before killing themselves in the end. It is estimated that more than 300 children (on average about 500 kids) are killed every year by their parents with women killing more than fathers. The highest number of killed children killed are usually 6 years and below. There are very many reasons why a mother opts to kill her child some general characteristics include demographic characteristics, historical characteristic, clinical characteristic, victim characteristic and forensic and offence characteristics.
Parents killing their children is not a new thing, especially in America. In America, it is estimated that at least 300 plus kids are killed every year by their parents. Child murders include filicide, where a child is murdered by the mother, infanticide where children murdered, are usually a year old and neonaticide is where a young child less than or exactly 24hours old is murdered. All over the world, it is hard to believe that a parent would deliberately kill own child without thinking twice. In most cases, it is believed that fathers are the only one capable of killing their children and even the whole family. But this wrong simply because women are also capable of killing their own children despite carrying them for long periods (nine months) and the pain they went through during labor. Mothers, in most cases, are considered to be good. The way the society views them and the way the media portrays them it has made them look less evil, caring, loving and full of moral principles among others. But this is not what always transpires simply because women defy all the brandings that they have attracted from the society and the media and do the worst. Most women in the present day society have turned into animals and decided to end the lives of their young ones for their own interests.
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Mothers who opt to kill their children are not much different from the other mothers in the society. One thing is common among all mothers, they are caring passionate and understanding which makes them maintain their quality no matter what. When a mother decides to kill, it most likely that, apart from mental illness, which is always common, depression may have a hand as well (Draper, 2016). Depression may impair a mother’s judgement making her be clouded; as a result, she may see a burden in caring for her children and eventually decide to kill them. Depression in most cases may result from stress due to problems which may arise within the family such as mortgage payment problems, financial issues, domestic violence, and divorce talks among others (Draper, 2016).
Basing on literature synthesis, it was found that there was a common characteristic which was shared among killer moms. The offenders were mostly found to have severe mental disorders which include bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depression disorder, or schizoaffective disorder among others. Apart from the mental disorders, it was discovered that the mothers may have visited a psychiatrist or any professional in mental health. More so, severe depression, abnormal mother-child relationship, psychotic features, past attempts to commit suicide and poor support among others may push a mother into killing her child. Furthermore, precise delusional themes such as that in regard to the family or children may lead to child murder (filicide) by the mother (Resnick, 2005). In 33 homicides, one involves an under 18 child murdered by the parent.
The motive of a mother to commit filicide may be for the specific reasons which after they kill their children they attempt to kill themselves. In most cases, mothers kill their children for the purposes of seeking revenge on the spouse, spouse, and revenge filicides. Mostly, mothers who kill for the purposes of revenge are usually with the intention of making the partner or spouse suffer (Resnick, 2005). Revenge filicides in most cases are triggered by a spouse’s behavior which may be unfaithfulness. A divorce case between couples having children always leads to the rise of child custody case, which may push mothers to kill their children if they are not favored to keep the children. Having an unwanted child may also push a mother to kill her child. Other mothers may commit suicide citing love as the main reason. In such a case, the mother usually maintains that she killed for the purposes of showing love to the child, believing that the child was suffering (Resnick, 2005).
Usually, altruistic filicide is suicide associated. For instance a suicidal mother may want to commit suicide but has a hard time thinking that she will leave a child motherless behind in a cruel world; as a result, she opts to kill the child before killing herself. Another one though different from altruistic filicide is the acute psychotic filicide which usually happens when the mother who is in the acute psychosis throes (such as undergoing command hallucinations) kills her child without any comprehensive motive. An acutely psychotic mother in most cases is usually lost in imagination and not reality which makes a judgment to be impaired since reality to her is not clear thus no meaning (Draper, 2016). Then there is also the fatal mistreatment filicide which mostly occurs because of being neglected by the mother. The mother may neglect a child for many reasons, for instance, the mother may not want to be recognized by the child, as a result, the mother decides that she would not attend to the needs of the child.
In the year 2001, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (USDHHS) Office of Child Neglect and Abuse had it that about 1,300 kids below the age of 18 years died because of neglect and abuse, with the majority of them being below 6 years old (McKee, 2006). The occurrences of fatal mistreatment filicide may also be because of child abuse and Munchausen syndrome (Resnick, 2005). Fatal mistreatment filicide may also be considered as a form of spousal revenge. Fatal battering or mistreatment filicide accounts for about 80% of children below 1-year-old homicides (Draper, 2016). Furthermore, a mother may opt to kill her child for the reason that the child is a hindrance and a threat to a much better and more valuable relationship. Some mothers, on the other hand, believe that they are not capable of caring for their children, thus overwhelmed and unprepared for the baby’s needs. Some mothers even opt to dispose of their babies in trash cans or dumpsters around the community or abandon them in unoccupied places or remote locations who in most cases are found dead (McKee, 2006). Also, filicide may happen within the familicide context where the whole family is eliminated including the father.
General characteristics of mothers who kill include demographic characteristics having the aspect of age, intelligence, marital status, education, and socioeconomic status. Age is usually considered when child murders occur, for instance, filicide is common among mothers in their 20s; infanticide, on the other hand, the mean age was found to be 23; however young mothers (15) and older (40) have killed a child or children. The mothers who commit neonaticide are usually younger. In most cases, mothers who kill their children have been found to have intelligence problems with the most common characteristic being subnormal intellectual functioning (McKee, 2006). Then there is the historical characteristics which have the aspect of parental divorce, adulthood abuse victim, childhood abuse victim, and prior arrest. Parental divorce is a common characteristic among filicidal mothers. Also, there is the clinical characteristic which encompasses prior mental health services, psychological testing, family mental illness, and psychiatric diagnosis. Another general characteristic is victim characteristic which has child victims number, the age of a child at death, child victim gender, and the birth circumstances of the child victim. And finally there are forensic and offence characteristics; it includes whether a confession is made by the mother to the crime she committed after her arrest and if she was legally determined to be insane at the moment she murdered her child (McKee, 2006).
Most women in the present day society have turned into animals and decided to end the lives of their young ones for their own interests. It is hard to believe that a mother is capable of destroying the most fundamental relationship that is there between her and her children. Many different kinds of research have it that women (mothers) account for 42% of prisoners arrested due to filicide. In America, cases of filicides are common and happen regularly, and compared to fathers mothers kill more bringing the average of deaths every year to 500 children. About 72% of the children killed are usually six years and below and about a third of the victims are usually under the age of 1. Neonaticdal mothers in most cases are unmarried women who may end up having unwanted pregnancies. But still, married women can be neonaticide in case they feel that having a child is a burden to them at the moment.
References
Draper, E. (2016, May 3). Parents who kill their kids not always insane, expert says. The Denver Post . Retrieved from https://www.denverpost.com/2011/05/26/parents-who-kill-their-kids-not-always-insane-expert-says/
McKee, G. R. (2006). Why mothers kill: A forensic psychologist's casebook . New York: Oxford University Press.
Resnick, P. J., Susan, H. F., Stephen, G. N., Carol, E. H., & Debra R. H. (2005).Filicide-Suicide: Common Factors in Parents Who Kill Their Children and Themselves. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online January, 33 (4) 496-504; Retrieved from http://jaapl.org/content/33/4/496.full
