Evidence-Based Reviews

Child murder by parents: Toward prevention

Current Psychiatry. 2023 June;22(6):12-14,18-21 | doi: 10.12788/cp.0358

References

1. Friedman SH, Horwitz SM, Resnick PJ. Child murder by mothers: a critical analysis of the current state of knowledge and a research agenda. Am J Psych. 2005;162(9):1578-1587.

2. Mariano TY, Chan HC, Myers WC. Toward a more holistic understanding of filicide: a multidisciplinary analysis of 32 years of US arrest data [published corrections appears in Forensic Sci Int. 2014;245:92-94]. Forensic Sci Int. 2014;236:46-53.

3. Hatters Friedman S, Resnick PJ. Child murder by mothers: patterns and prevention. World Psychiatry. 2007;6(3):137-141.

4. Friedman SH, Resnick PJ. Neonaticide: phenomenology and considerations for prevention. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2009;32(1):43-47.

5. Hatters Friedman S, Hrouda DR, Holden CE, et al. Filicide-suicide: common factors in parents who kill their children and themselves. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2005;33(4):496-504.

6. Daly M, Wilson M. Is the “Cinderella effect” controversial? A case study of evolution-minded research and critiques thereof. In: Crawford C, Krebs D, eds. Foundations of Evolutionary Psychology. Taylor & Francis Group/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 2008:383-400.

7. Friedman SH. Fathers and filicide: Mental illness and outcomes. In: Wong G, Parnham G, eds. Infanticide and Filicide: Foundations in Maternal Mental Health Forensics. 1st ed. American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2020:85-107.

8. West SG, Friedman SH, Resnick PJ. Fathers who kill their children: an analysis of the literature. J Forensic Sci. 2009;54(2):463-468.

9. Putkonen H, Amon S, Eronen M, et al. Gender differences in filicide offense characteristics--a comprehensive register-based study of child murder in two European countries. Child Abuse Neglect. 2011;35(5):319-328.

10. Miller LJ. Denial of pregnancy. In: Spinelli MG, ed. Infanticide: Psychosocial and Legal Perspectives on Mothers Who Kill. American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2003:81-104.

11. Friedman SH, Heneghan A, Rosenthal M. Characteristics of women who deny or conceal pregnancy. Psychosomatics. 2007;48(2):117-122.

12. Beyer K, Mack SM, Shelton JL. Investigative analysis of neonaticide: an exploratory study. Criminal Justice and Behavior. 2008;35(4):522-535.

13. Putkonen H, Weizmann-Henelius G, Collander J, et al. Neonaticides may be more preventable and heterogeneous than previously thought--neonaticides in Finland 1980-2000. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2007;10(1):15-23.

14. Friedman SH, Resnick PJ. Child murder and mental illness in parents: implications for psychiatrists. J Clin Psychiatry. 2011;72(5):587-588.

15. Resnick PJ. Child murder by parents: a psychiatric review of filicide. Am J Psychiatry. 1969;126(3):325-334.

16. Friedman SH. Searching for the whole truth: considering culture and gender in forensic psychiatric practice. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2023;51(1):23-34.

17. Friedman SH, Hrouda DR, Holden CE, et al. Child murder committed by severely mentally ill mothers: an examination of mothers found not guilty by reason of insanity. J Forensic Sci. 2005;50(6):1466-1471.

18. Ash P. Fatal maltreatment and child abuse turned to murder. In: Friedman SH, ed. Family Murder: Pathologies of Love and Hate. Group for the Advancement Psychiatry; 2018.

19. Friedman SH, Appel JM. Murder in the family: intimate partner homicide in the elderly. Psychiatric News. 2018. Accessed April 8, 2023. https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2018.12a21

20. Friedman SH, McEwan MV. Treated mental illness and the risk of child abuse perpetration. Psychiatr Serv. 2018;69(2):211-216.

21. McEwan M, Friedman SH. Violence by parents against their children: reporting of maltreatment suspicions, child protection, and risk in mental illness. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2016;39(4):691-700.

22. Hatters Friedman S, Beaman JW, Friedman JB. Fatality review and the role of the forensic psychiatrist. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2021;49(3):396-405.

23. Friedman SH, Prakash C, Nagle-Yang S. Postpartum psychosis: protecting mother and infant. Current Psychiatry. 2019;18(4):12-21.

24. Stanton J, Simpson AI, Wouldes T. A qualitative study of filicide by mentally ill mothers. Child Abuse Negl. 2000;24(11):1451-1460.

25. Levitzky S, Cooper R. Infant colic syndrome—maternal fantasies of aggression and infanticide. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2000;39(7):395-400.

26. Jennings KD, Ross S, Popper S, et al. Thoughts of harming infants in depressed and nondepressed mothers. J Affect Disord. 1999;54(1-2):21-28.

27. Barr JA, Beck CT. Infanticide secrets: qualitative study on postpartum depression. Can Fam Physician. 2008;54(12):1716-1717.e5.

28. Friedman SH, Sorrentino RM, Stankowski JE, et al. Psychiatrists’ knowledge about maternal filicidal thoughts. Compr Psychiatry. 2008;49(1):106-110.

29. Booth BD, Friedman SH, Curry S, et al. Obsessions of child murder: underrecognized manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2014;42(1):66-74.

30. Friedman SH, Hall RCW. Avoiding malpractice while treating depression in pregnant women. Current Psychiatry. 2021;20(8):30-36.

In “partner revenge” cases, parenting disputes, a custody battle, infidelity, or a difficult relationship breakup is often present. The parent wants to make the other parent suffer, and does so by killing their child. A parent may make statements such as “If I can’t have [the child], no one can,” and the child is used as a pawn.

In the final 2 motives—“altruistic” and “acutely psychotic”—mental illness is common. These are the populations we tend to find in samples of filicide-suicide cases where the parent has killed themselves and their child, and those found not guilty by reason of insanity.^5,17Altruistic filicide has been described as “murder out of love.” How can a parent kill their child out of love? Our research has shown several ways. First, the parent may be severely depressed and suicidal. They may be planning their own suicide, and as a parent who loves their child, they plan to take their child with them in death and not leave them alone in the “cruel world” that they themselves are departing. Or the parent may believe they are killing the child out of love to prevent or relieve the child’s suffering. The psychotic parent may believe that a terrible fate will befall their child, and they are killing them “gently.” For example, the parent may believe the child will be tortured or sex trafficked. Some parents may believe that their child has a devastating disease and think they would be better off dead. (Similar thinking of misguided altruism is seen in some cases of intimate partner homicide among older adults.¹⁹)

Alternatively, in rare cases of acutely psychotic filicide, parents with psychosis kill their child with no comprehensible motive. For example, they may be in a postictal state or may hear a command hallucination from God in the context of their psychosis.¹⁵

Myths vs realities of filicide

Common myths vs the realities of filicide are noted in Table 2. There are issues with believing these myths. For example, if we believe that most parents who kill their child have mental illness, this conflates mental illness and child homicide in our minds as well as the mind of the public. This can lead to further stigmatization of mental illness, and a lack of help-seeking behaviors because parents experiencing psychiatric symptoms may be afraid that if they report their symptoms, their child will be removed by Child Protective Services. However, treated mental illness decreases the risks of child abuse, similar to how treating mental illness decreases risks of other types of violence.^20,21

Focusing on prevention

On a local level, we need to understand these tragedies to better understand prevention. To this end, across the United States, counties have Child Fatality Review teams.²² These teams are a partnership across sectors and disciplines, including professionals from health services, law enforcement, and social services—among others—working together to understand cases and consider preventive strategies and additional services needed within our communities.

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