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The deliberate killing of a child by its mother is abhorrent and is associated in the minds of many with mental illness and in particular with postnatal depression. However, at least 50% of perpetrators are neither "mad" nor "bad", and mothers who kill children are not "unhinged" by pregnancy or childbirth. We propose a different explanation: "blind rage" or "overwhelmed syndrome", whereby parents, stressed to breaking point by sleep deprivation or incessant baby crying, respond by lethally harming their child contrary to previous behaviour. The roots of this blind rage may be found in psychosocial disturbances, including the mother's own unsatisfactory experience of parenting which has caused attachment disorders. The legal framework guiding decisions to prosecute and structuring sentencing decision-making following conviction should acknowledge the exceptional stress experienced by such mothers postnatally. Health professionals including midwives and obstetricians should increase their vigilance and arrange referrals for mothers at risk of causing harm or committing infanticide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical examination of filicide in Australia is limited and often focuses on case studies of maternal filicides. Longitudinal trends of Australian filicide offending have focused almost exclusively on the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Our study aims to fill a gap in Australian criminological knowledge about filicide. Utilising prison and Supreme Court records from 1860 and 1920, we plot the extent of filicide offending by men and women in Victoria to create a more comprehensive picture of filicide perpetration. This study also tests whether identified motives and risk factors for filicide today can be applied to historical data, to make these data accessible to criminologists studying filicide in the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The murder of family members is one of the most difficult crimes to understand. This study uses Shye's action systems framework combined with multivariate data analysis to test the hypothesis that different forms of familicide will reflect the four states an action system can take, namely: Integrative, Expressive, Conservative and Adaptive. A multidimensional scaling analysis (MDS) was performed on 54 crime scene variables describing 104 cases of intra-familial homicide. The analysis revealed four distinct modes of functioning, which provided tentative support for Shye's action system. Each of the four modes had distinct associations with perpetrator characteristics. The Expressive and Integrative modes were associated with Cluster B personality traits, and criminal and substance use histories. The Adaptive mode was associated with trauma histories, mood disorders, and personality disorder traits. The Conservative theme was associated with trauma histories and psychotic disorders. Implications of findings for risk assessment and intervention are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data drawn from the Australian Homicide Project were used to examine whether and how maternal and paternal filicide perpetrators differ in terms of motivations for filicide and childhood and adulthood adversities. In addition, key differences between filicide and non-filicide perpetrators were examined. Data were collected across a number of states and territories in Australia between 2010 and 2013 through interviews with 231 men and women convicted of murder or manslaughter. Of these participants, 14 had perpetrated filicide. Detailed information on the developmental background of the perpetrators, as well as motives and situational contexts of the homicide incidents, was gathered through the interviews. Findings from the current study reveal some important gender differences among filicide perpetrators. For example, filicidal fathers are more likely to perpetrate accidental filicide, and to report unemployment, alcohol and drug problems and previous engagement in child abuse, while filicidal mothers are more likely to perpetrate altruistic or neglectful filicide, and to report mental health problems. In addition, male filicide perpetrators report a greater number of adversities compared to male non-filicide perpetrators, while female filicide perpetrators display fewer adversities compared to their non-filicide counterparts. Key Practitioner Messages Practitioners are uniquely placed to assist in filicide prevention., Opportunities for service providers to raise awareness of key risk factors for filicide are crucial., Health and social service providers are ideally placed to screen parents seeking support to uncover early warning risks., Mental health service support is crucial, particularly for mothers, as is screening parents for severe depression or suicidal ideations., Provision of parenting support skills to help parents cope with extreme stress appears salient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This discussion of three cases of filicide reported and reviewed extensively by the Australian news media between 2010 and 2014 is concerned with the politics of representation and its links to material violence. Moving through the architecture of the coverage rather than focusing on it this article observes popular, if mostly tacit, assumptions about masculinity and femininity in representing ‘family violence’. It locates coverage patterns to illustrate perceptions of violence against women and children and inaccurate stereotyping of such family violence as the extraordinary consequences of mental illness, which are mostly reproduced by the Australian media. It is suggested that such media representations are part of a downplaying of family violence as a public issue of urgency.Note – It is acknowledged that those who have survived violent crimes or have personal experience with the trauma and loss associated with such crimes might read this article. While every effort has been made to reproduce media reporting of the cases discussed here with sensitivity and mindfulness, it is advised that some readers might find some of the content of this article distressing.I joined the ranks of the mother who had her three children driven into a lake. I joined the ranks of the mum whose little girl was thrown over the Westgate Bridge. I'm one of those worst things that have ever happened.2 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent years there have been a number of high profile cases in which parents have intentionally killed their children in the context of parental separation. There is a perception in the community that these deaths occur because of disputes over contact with children in the family law courts. This article considers this issue by outlining what is known from national data and international research on filicide and draws on illustrative case examples. While separation is a key factor in many intentional filicides, few cases involve disputes before the family law courts. Filicide can be understood as a gendered phenomenon. In filicides perpetrated by fathers, a desire for revenge towards an intimate partner in relation to separation is more commonly a significant motivating factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the nature and extent of child homicide and fatal abuse. According to a survey carried out by the charity Kidscape and reported in "The Guardian" newspaper in August 1, 1995, parents rate abduction and assault of their child by a stranger as their greatest fear. Indeed, child abductions have trebled over the past ten years but most are carried out by estranged parents. A child being abducted and murdered by a stranger, although devastating for the families concerned, is in fact an extremely rare phenomenon. Home Office statistics in Great Britain show that over the past ten years, from 1984-1993, there have been 57 children murdered by strangers. This figure is roughly equivalent to the number of filicides each year in Great Britain where children are killed by their parents. Thus, British children are more likely to be killed in their own home by members of their own family than anywhere else or by anyone else in society. A similar point has been made for children in the U.S. and Australia. However, in some developing countries this premise may be incorrect. Perhaps the parental fear of child killings by strangers is out of proportion because of media coverage.

The article offers news briefs relating to violence against women in Australia as of June 1, 2012. The Domestic Violence Resource Center in Victoria released a paper on filicide, which is the killing of children during relationship dissolution. The Australian federal government will outlaw forced marriages within the country. The Australian government passed the National Health (Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement) Act in March of 2012.