Filicide Essay ⋆ Criminal Justice Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Filicide refers to the purposeful killing of a child, son or daughter, by his or her own parent. In addition, filicide identifies the parent who has killed his or her own child. A mother killing her own child can be further classified as maternal filicide. A father killing his own child can be further classified as paternal filicide.

In some cultures, and over a range of periods in history, the practice of killing one’s child has for various reasons been deemed an acceptable practice. During ancient Roman times, a father was guaranteed the right by law to kill his children. This right was recognized as patria potestas. In countries such as China and India, a preference for male children historically has been accepted, thereby creating a culturally accepted killing of female infants. In other societies it has been acknowledged as a culturally customary event to kill newborns found to have birth defects.

Modern reasons for killing one’s own child include, but are not limited to, monetary considerations, power, apprehension, and rejection. Due to economic issues, some cultures still deem it acceptable to kill one’s child as a form of controlling family size.

The practice of child murder is not frequent. However, children are killed by their own parents more often than by other perpetrators, such as strangers. Children are considered to be most at risk during the first 24 hours after birth. A filicide during this time period is also termed neonaticide. It is in this time frame that most child murders occur, and babies, regardless of their sex, are most frequently killed by their mothers. Paternal filicide at this age is uncommon. It is estimated that more than 90% of male and female infants, 1 week old or younger, are killed by their mothers.

Child murders involving paternal filicide sometimes involve murder and suicide. The children are generally older than in maternal filicides, and involve child abuse that has turned fatal. Instances involving both children and spouse being killed are termed familicide. This practice is nearly exclusive to male perpetrators.

The ability to determine the actual number of filicides has been questioned, and there is disagreement as to whether the official number is too low. This is because some of the victims’ deaths may have been incorrectly classified, for example, where they have been attributed to natural causes such as sudden infant death syndrome.

Bibliography:

Garner, B. (Ed.). (2004). Black’s law dictionary (8th ed.). St. Paul, MN: West.
Kunz, J., & Bahr, S. J. (1996). A profile of parental homicide against children. Journal of Family Violence, 11, 347–362.
Pitt, S., & Bale, E. (1995). Neonaticide, infanticide, and filicide: A review of the literature. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 23, 375–386.
Riedel, M., & Welsh, W. N. (in press). Criminal violence: Patterns, causes, and prevention (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
Stanton, J., & Simpson, A. (2002). Filicide: A review. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 25, 1–14.

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