"The purpose of this study is to identify the history and behavioral trends of maternal filicide in the United States. This study examines six cases of filicide that were highly publicized by the media. The media tends to overdramatize certain aspects of cases, which then leads to the overshadowing of actual facts. The data was gathered from court records, police reports, televised offender interviews, and records of psychiatric assessments. The cases that were reviewed were homicides that took place between 1997 and 2005. The study examined the childhood, mental history, prior criminal history, motives and the family-of-origin for each of the filicidal women. The mean age of the mothers at the time they committed the offense was 29.83 years. The women ranged in age from 18 to 38 years. The six women in the study killed a combined total of 17 children (16 males and 1 female). Males were overrepresented as victims in this study compared to other research involving maternal filicide."--Abstract of thesis.

Maternal filicide has been discussed in the medical, mental health, and child abuse fields, yet little research exists with a criminal justice/law enforcement perspective. Nevertheless, criminal justice professionals responsible for investigation and prosecution of these offenders often must give attention to unique behavioral, social, and psychological dynamics not considered in many other types of cases. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) III – Crimes Against Children identified, collected, and reviewed law enforcement case files in which a biological mother killed her child(ren). Collectively, the cases involve 213 biological mothers who killed 265 children, and are comprised of neonaticide, infanticide, and filicide cases. Data analysis revealed that the offenders ranged in age from 12-46 years, and many were unmarried, unemployed, and had a history of violence. Many of the victims were three years of age or younger, did not live with their biological fathers at the time of their deaths, and had a history of maltreatment most often perpetrated by their mothers. In addition, traditional weapons such as a firearm or knife were used less often compared to asphyxiants and blunt force instruments. The authors explore the tenets of female violence, the mother-child dynamic and mental disorders, and address the complexities associated with investigating and prosecuting maternal filicide offenders. ​

"Maternal filicide-the killing of a child by the mother-is not a new phenomenon. Evidence of mothers killing their infants dates back to at least 2000 B.C.E. and the ancient Chaldean civilization. The trial of Andrea Yates in 2001 for drowning her five children, however, captured the public attention in a way few similar cases had before. Initially met with public shock and outrage, the Yates case also spotlighted postpartum psychosis and maternal mental health forensics-the intersection of maternal mental illness and the criminal justice system. Coedited by George Parnham, the attorney who successfully defended Yates, this book includes his narrative account of how he first heard about and came to take on the case. It also features real case examples from more than 30 experts in the field representing eight countries. In addition, the book includes a chapter on paternal filicide, an important subject that receives far too little attention in the literature. Firmly rooted in research, thorough in its description of theory, and packed with practical applications, this volume highlights the necessary competency areas for those involved in maternal mental health forensics, whether psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, or lawyers"--

Few crimes generate greater public reaction than those where a mother murders her child. We are repelled, yet mesmerized, by the emerging details of cases such as Andrea Yates and Susan Smith. Annually, hundreds of infants and young children perish at the hands of their mothers. How could a mother destroy the first and most fundamental relationship we experience? In Why Mothers Kill: A Forensic Psychologist's Casebook, Geoffrey R. McKee, Ph.D. uses more than a dozen case studies from his 29-year forensic psychological evaluation practice to help us, and most importantly, prevent these horrific events from occurring. He applies current research findings to analyze, explain, and suggest practical interventions to alter the personal, familial, and situational circumstances that may influence some mothers to kill. With an emphasis on prevention, Dr. McKee sets out specific strategies that might have been employed at various "risk intervention points" occurring before the child's death. Through the use of extended narratives the author brings to life the thoughts and emotions experienced by women in each of the five categories of mothers he has identified from his years of practice. Additionally, the author presents the Maternal Filicide Risk Matrix which he developed to help mental health and medical professionals determine the risk and protective factors that lead mothers to kill their children. Students, as well as mental health and medical professionals will find this an important and unique resource.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

An inside look into patterns and potential prevention plans for one of the most hotly sensationalized crimes A special kind of horror is reserved for mothers who kill their children. Cases such as those of Susan Smith, who drowned her two young sons by driving her car into a lake, and Melissa Drexler, who disposed of her newborn baby in a restroom at her prom, become media sensations. Unfortunately, in addition to these high-profile cases, hundreds of mothers kill their children in the United States each year. The question most often asked is, why? What would drive a mother to kill her own child? Those who work with such cases, whether in clinical psychology, social services, law enforcement or academia, often lack basic understandings about the types of circumstances and patterns which might lead to these tragic deaths, and the social constructions of motherhood which may affect women's actions. These mothers oftentimes defy the myths and media exploitation of them as evil, insane, or lacking moral principles, and they are not a homogenous group. In obvious ways, intervention strategies should differ for a teenager who denies her pregnancy and then kills her newborn and a mother who kills her two toddlers out of mental illness or to further a relationship. A typology is needed to help us to understand the different cases that commonly occur and the patterns they follow in order to make possible more effective prevention plans. Mothers Who Kill Their Children draws on extensive research to identify clear patterns among the cases of women who kill their children, shedding light on why some women commit these acts. The characteristics the authors establish will be helpful in creating more meaningful policies, more targeted intervention strategies, and more knowledgeable evaluations of these cases when they arise.

This compelling and unique collection of critical and creative work assesses for the first time cultural, literary, legal and historical representations and narratives about mothers who kill and filicide. The idea of a mother killing her child to many presents the greatest taboo, and the most disturbing and distressing aspect of maternal experience. In Toni Morrison's 1987 novel Beloved, escaped slave mother Sethe addresses her daughter Beloved whom she murdered out of desperation, in order to avoid her returning to a life of slavery and sexual abuse. Sethe reflects, "I'll explain to her, even though I don't have to. Why I did it. How if I hadn't killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her. When I explain it she'll understand." This book goes beyond Morrison's widely known literary portrayal, in order to investigate a range of other, less known but no less challenging, examinations of maternal filicide. Have mothers who kill inevitably been portrayed as monsters in cultural representations? Or are there certain contexts that may urge us to reevaluate maternal behavior? And how might we counter the misogynist narratives surrounding maternal