An overview of filicide
Abstract
Filicide, or the murder of one's own child, is an unfathomable crime. With Andrea Yates's return to trial in the summer of 2006, filicide once again came to the forefront of psychiatric issues in the media. One positive outcome that may be derived from this tragedy is practitioners' heightened awareness that parents may, for a variety of reasons, be compelled to kill their children. This article aims to educate mental health providers about the concept of filicide by presenting a broad overview of the topic, including a discussion of its history, definitions, classifications, outcomes, and the research surrounding it. This knowledge will hopefully bring about clinicians' increased exploration of patients' thoughts of harming their children, which may ultimately lead to the prevention of these senseless crimes.
Keywords: child murder; filicide; infanticide; neonaticide; parents.
Similar articles
-
Killing One's Own Baby: A Psychodynamic Overview with Clinical Approach to Filicide Cases.Turk Psikiyatri Derg. 2021 Fall;32(3):201-210. doi: 10.5080/u25786. Turk Psikiyatri Derg. 2021. PMID: 34647291 Review. English, Turkish.
-
Child homicide by parents in Chile: a gender-based study and analysis of post-filicide attempted suicide.Int J Law Psychiatry. 2013 Jan-Feb;36(1):55-64. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2012.11.008. Epub 2012 Nov 26. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2013. PMID: 23192006
-
[Filicide; psychiatric disorders in parents who murder their children--a literature review].Tijdschr Psychiatr. 2008;50(5):263-72. Tijdschr Psychiatr. 2008. PMID: 18470841 Review. Dutch.
-
Neonaticide, infanticide, and filicide: a review of the literature.Bull Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 1995;23(3):375-86. Bull Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 1995. PMID: 8845528 Review.
-
Psychiatric Considerations on Infanticide: Throwing the Baby out with the Bathwater.Psychiatr Danub. 2020 Sep;32(Suppl 1):24-28. Psychiatr Danub. 2020. PMID: 32890357 Review.
Cited by
-
Sociodemographic, Legal, and Clinical Profiles of Female Forensic Inpatients in Karnataka: A Retrospective Study.Indian J Psychol Med. 2019 Mar-Apr;41(2):138-143. doi: 10.4103/IJPSYM.IJPSYM_152_18. Indian J Psychol Med. 2019. PMID: 30983661 Free PMC article.
-
Violence Risk Assessment and Risk Management: Case-Study of Filicide in an Italian Woman.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jun 7;19(12):6967. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19126967. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022. PMID: 35742216 Free PMC article.
-
Filicide in Africa: a systematic review.BMC Public Health. 2024 Aug 6;24(1):2125. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19625-0. BMC Public Health. 2024. PMID: 39107769 Free PMC article.
-
A qualitative analysis of negative feelings among incarcerated filicide mothers in Rwanda.BMC Psychiatry. 2022 Jun 27;22(1):432. doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-04081-0. BMC Psychiatry. 2022. PMID: 35761308 Free PMC article.
-
Paternal Filicide in Sweden: Background, Risk Factors and the Cinderella Effect.Evol Psychol. 2024 Jul-Sep;22(3):14747049241265623. doi: 10.1177/14747049241265623. Evol Psychol. 2024. PMID: 39193729 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Glotz G. Expositio (Grèce) In: Daremberg CV, Saglio E, Potter E, editors. Dictionnaire des antiquités grecques et latines d'après les texts et les monuments. Vol. 3. Paris, France: Hachette; 1982. pp. 490–3.
-
- Kellum BA. Infanitcide in England in the later Middle Ages. Hist Child Q. 1974;1:76–88. - PubMed
-
- Wrightson K. Infanticide in earlier seventeenth century England. Local Popul Stud. 1971;15:10–22.
-
- Oates W, O'Neill E, editors. The Complete Greek Drama, Volume 1. New York, NY: Random House; 1938. Medea by Euripides.
-
- Montag BA, Montag TW. Infanticide: A historical perspective. Minn Med. 1979;62(5):368–72. - PubMed
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources