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Background: Although a substantial increase in the number of female offenders has drawn interest towards understanding their unique characteristics, few studies have investigated the characteristics of female mentally disordered offenders in Japan and none since the legislation enacted in 2005 in Japan, which provided for special services for them.Aims: The aim of this study is to identify those characteristics of people detained under this legislation, which distinguish the women from the men and may indicate special needs among the women.Methods: A retrospective records-based study of all patients admitted to one secure unit in the 8 years since its opening in July 2005 until a census date of 31 October 2013.Results: Thirty-six (15%) of the patients were women. Marriage, mood disorders, past suicide attempts and homicide were more common among the women than the men. Six of the female offender-patients had committed filicides, of which four were infanticides.Conclusion: There appears to be a particularly vulnerable sub-group of women with severe mood disorders, a history of serious suicide attempts and young children at risk of harming those children. Our sample was small and from a single unit so, given the potential importance of improving understanding of who is at risk in such circumstances, extending our study nationally seems indicated. [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]

Objective: Ten percent of all homicide perpetrators are female and homicidal acts committed by women are mostly a result of interpersonal conflicts. We carried out a retrospective psychosocial analysis of ten homicide cases committed by women with an urban mid-European background. We evaluated characteristic determinants regarding 1) deed circumstances and motives, 2) the perpetrators, and 3) the victims. Results were compared with the literature on female and male homicides.Method: Autopsy records of the Institute of Legal Medicine of the University Hospital of Düsseldorf, Germany, during the time period from 2006 to 2011 were searched for homicides committed by female perpetrators. Prosecution files were reviewed for further information.Results: The sample comprised N = 10 female homicide perpetrators and eleven victims. The mentioned determinants of the homicide were fairly consistent. All deeds occurred in the domestic context; they were mostly unplanned. All perpetrators were socially isolated and faced socially challenging situations. Most perpetrators were of low socioeconomic status. Furthermore, all victims were helpless and/or dependent on the perpetrator. The presence of a major psychiatric disorder was uncommon and, in contrast to male perpetrators, most women had no previous convictions.Discussion: The potential value of these core findings in our sample regarding prevention is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the characteristics of women who have been wrongfully convicted of harming or killing children and mentions how stereotypes play a unique role in those wrongful convictions. Topics discussed include cultural perception of women as nurturers, mothers, and protectors of children, circumstances that lead to women being erroneously charged with and convicted of crimes and need to take steps to reduce wrongful convictions in the criminal justice system.

This paper provides a comprehensive historical and contemporary picture of filicide in Canada for more than half a century. Focusing on 1,612 children under age 18 that were killed by their parents between 1961 and 2011, regional and temporal trends in the gender of accused are examined as well as differences in maternal and paternal filicides by the gender and age of the victim, the age and marital status of the accused, type of parental relationship, cause of death, motive, history of family violence, and clearance status. Results show that there are significant differences in filicides by mothers and fathers. Five possible emerging trends were identified: an increasing gender gap in accused, increasing presence of relationship breakdown, growing number of cases involving stepfathers and a prior history of family violence, and declines in accused who committed suicide. Implications of these trends for interventions and prevention are discussed and future research priorities highlighted. [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]

The objective of the study was to examine the change in child homicides in Sweden between the 1990s and the 2000s based on a study of all cases registered during the periods 1990-1996 and 2002-2008. The results show a significant annual 4% decrease in the number of child homicides, with the main decline being due to a decrease in cases of filicide–suicide among both fathers and mothers. One possible explanation for the decrease may be the increases in the general prescription of antidepressant medication. However, other factors may also have played a significant role in the decline as well. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For a child, the likelihood of being murdered is highest during the first year of life, and many such cases are neonaticides. Although several recent studies have examined neonalicide in different countries and cultures, there has been no in-depth analysis of Swiss cases, even though this country has special neonaticide legislation and four "baby hatches" have been opened to prevent such killings. The primary objective of this retrospective study was to analyze the prevalence and phenomenon of neonaticide in Switzerland. Using data from judicial files, 11 cases were identified in 15 German-speaking cantons between 1980 and 2010. The sample included two uncommon cases of nonmaternal neonaticide. The discussion addresses possible prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In the literature, 15% of the victims of homicide consists of children under 1 6 years of age; children under the age has been proved that they have the maximum risk. The vast majority of the victims were killed by their mothers. Thus, if mothers are the perpetrators of crime child murders are discussed in different ways, so it is conceptualized under the name of maternal filicide in the literature. This study has been performed for, in Turkey, women who killed their own children between 0-6 years old, victims of crimes, and to determine features of crime regarding on forensic medicine, eventually in order to provide a basis for taking necessary precautions and measures. Methods: This research includes 74 reports of maternal filicide cases came to IV. Board of Specialization at the Council of Forensic Medicine in Istanbul, Ministry of Justice of Republic of Turkey between 1996-2006 years. In the light of data came from these reports, the socio-demographic characteristics of mothers who attempted filicide and children who were killed, and crime occurrence methods and mothers' criminal legal responsibility were examined. Results: Mothers, suspected of the filicide crime, are often at a young age, and did not desire pregnancy, 73 of mother's do not have criminal history, and 48 of mothers confessed the crime. Found that 71 of child victims are biological kids, 38 of them were killed around age, and 20 of them were girls, 35 of them were boys. The study group, seven of defendants killed or attempted to kill more than one child at the same time. The majority of mothers committed the crime during the daylight. When filicide methods were examined strangling or throwing up the child from higher were seen the most. The majority of mothers committed crime without weapon or other objects, just by their hands. Based on decisions of IV. Board of Specialization, no significant difference was observed between the mothers with criminal liability and mothers with non-criminal liability. Conclusion: In this study, important data procured from the demographic characteristics of the mothers, findings on conditions during the crime and the method of the crime, and mothers' psychosocial stressors, but it has been discerned that this data is limited to define the crime of filicide. At the end of the study, besides studied the parameters that directed people to commit this crime, other factors, like mental status and/or motives should be probed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Filicide occurs in every socioeconomic stratum around the world. This study was conducted to evaluate motives, psychopathological aspects, and socio-demographic factors of 74 filicide cases of women in Turkey. Mean age of mothers, most of whom committed infanticide, was 26 years, and breakdown of criminal offenses are as follows: 'to get rid of unwanted babies' (24.3%), 'acute psychotic-type filicide' (21.6%), 'fatal child abuse and neglect' (17.6%), 'to get revenge' (12.2%), 'protect the lonely child from the harm and badness after suicide' (10.8%), and 'pity' (9.5%) motives. Results showed that maternal filicide cannot be reduced to only mental instability or environmental factors and indicates deficiencies in the capacity of the mothers' role in connecting with their child and with parenting skills. Finally, with regard to defendants' motives, similar factors that contribute to committing maternal filicide should be considered while making an assessment of the data and determining employee risk groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few passages of Scripture are more revered than the parable of the prodigal son. Whether through quotidian biblical readings or fiery Sunday morning sermons, the evocative images that it conjures up-the most prominent of which is that of a forlorn son returning home to a beneficent father-often causes those who encounter this story of redemption, believer and non-believer alike, to be enraptured in the ardor of spiritual ecstasy. It is a quintessential feel-good story. And yet, one must ask, how many prodigal sons are able to return to their fathers' houses in like manner? Is it not troubling to consider the lack of such a welcome home for the countless prodigal sons among us? This interdisciplinary study examines such questions by underscoring not only the failed 'return,' but, even more so, the lack of a 'home' (a veritable place of return, so to speak) for black men who suffer from the inherent prodigality, the desire to spend all, of patriarchal manhood. It is for this reason that anatomizing the parable itself, which is done by utilizing the works of such scholars as Henri Nouwen, is not sufficient to address our concerns. Other interlocutors are needed, scholars of a different but not better perspicacity, who can speak to the deleterious intergenerational effects that a lack of home can have on a black man's development, be it psychosocially, spiritually, or otherwise. The chosen participants for this somewhat uncommon dialogue are psychoanalyst John Bowlby and African American author Ernest Gaines. Both of these authors enunciate the ways in which the inability to return or, in some instances, retreat to what Bowlby calls a 'secure base' traps a man within a deadly web of negative affect, such as shame, within which he entangles his sons as well. This is an unfortunate act of filicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1983 Finland became the second country in the world, after Sweden, to adopt a law prohibiting all kinds of physical punishment towards children, also by parents. The present investigation was carried out in 2011, 28 years after the law was adopted. Changes in exposure to various types of physical punishment towards respondents born between 1931 and 1996 are presented. A representative sample from Western Finland, consisting of 4,609 respondents (2,632 females, 1,977 males) between 15 and 80 years, filled in a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. A number of psychosocial concomitants were measured. The results showed a significant drop in reports of being slapped and beaten with an object among respondents who were born after the law was adopted. The decline in physical punishment was associated with a similar decline in the number of murdered children. Respondents who had been exposed to higher amounts of physical punishment than average scored significantly higher on alcohol abuse, depression, mental health problems, and schizotypal personality. Divorced respondents had been significantly more physically punished than others. Respondents who had attempted suicide during the last 12 months had been exposed to physical punishment during childhood significantly more often than those who had not attempted suicide. Aggr. Behav. 40:568-581, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Filicide is the intentional act of a parent killing their own child. Encompassing both neonaticide (victims less than a day old), and infanticide (victims less than a year old), filicide is often defined to include biological and stepparents as offenders with victims under the age of 18. As the risk of becoming a victim of homicide is greatest during the first year of life, and parents or stepparents are the most likely perpetrators, there is a pressing need for further research in this area. Existing work has been limited by definitional variation, small sample sizes, and inconsistent or conflicting findings. Furthermore, there is a notable lack of research incorporating a comparison of maternal versus paternal filicide. The present exploratory and descriptive study examines a large sample of reported incidents, using 15 years of National Incident-Based Reporting System data (1995 to 2009), to provide a much needed and more comprehensive source of aggregate-level baseline information on this understudied violent crime. Presenting a comparison of maternal and paternal filicide, basic demographic characteristics including victim/offender age, sex and race are explored in relation to incident characteristics including, substance abuse, location, and weapon usage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Paraphenylene diamine (PPD) hair dye poisoning is a common health problem in the Middle East and Indian subcontinent. It is the most common cause of suicide intent especially among females. We hereby present a 27-year-old female who presented with a clinical feature of PPD poisoning due to a suicidal attempt, and she died soon after arrival. She had survived a previous suicide attempt with PPD 4 years before. This time she also intentionally tried to kill her four children using PPD. One child died, one recovered after dialysis for acute kidney injury and the other two survived without any further intervention. This case illustrates that PPD poisoning may be used in filicide and suicide intent and that all patients who committed suicide should be reviewed and assessed by clinical psychiatrist. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current study examined whether attachment theory could contribute to identifying risk factors involved in filicide. Participants were 121 women: mothers from the normative population (NPM, n = 61), mothers with mental illness (MIM, n = 37), and filicidal mothers, i.e., mothers who had murdered their child (FM, n = 23). Descriptive variables were collected and the Adult Attachment Interview was used to assess mental representations of attachment relationships using the traditional coding system and the Hostile/Helpless (HH) attachment state of mind coding. Unresolved, Insecure, Entangled, and Helpless representations of attachment relationships were overrepresented in the FM group. When a constellation of descriptive and attachment-based risk factors was taken into account, the HH attachment state of mind was found to contribute significantly to distinguishing between MIM and FM groups. As predicted, when the Bayesian Information Criterion was applied to multinomial regression models, descriptive variables were shown to be less able alone than in association with attachment-based classifications to disentangle the increased risk for committing filicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports the survey on the statutes and laws made for fetal homicide. Topics discussed include imposition of the criminal liability on the pregnant ladies for the death of their own fetuses, jurisprudence of the Supreme Court on abortion cases and consideration of the common laws of England regarding the death of fetuses. It also discusses the Unborn Victims of Violence Act regarding the fetal homicide.

This paper discusses the findings of a ten-year study of filicide in Victoria, Australia, using the data from selected case files held in the Victorian coroner's office for the period 2000-09. The study sought to examine whether separation is a factor in filicide cases, as well as the role of other factors, such as domestic violence and mental illness. Also, the study sought to identify whether filicide perpetrators had contact with support services, including family and friends, general practitioners, mental health services and child protection services, in order to ascertain how these services might more appropriately identify those families most at risk prior to the filicide. The study found that while separation was a factor identified in a significant number of cases, more cases analysed showed evidence of mental illness, mainly depression. These findings suggest the need for improved strategies in preventing filicide by identifying risk factors and improving service responses for victims prior to these tragic events. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages: Filicide is uncommon but does occur., Perpetrators fall into three main groups and a different scenario is associated with each group., Associated (risk) factors were found to be mental illness (especially depression), separation, domestic violence and substance abuse., Any client/patient with mental illness and partner separation should be probed for thoughts of harm., Engagement with services is a protective factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines Medea's filicide in Euripides' play "Medea" in the context of evolutionary literary criticism, or biopoetics, which says that humans universally share innate feelings and motivations that can be seen in fiction. According to this approach, the motivation for Medea's filicide is Jason's withdrawal of matrimonial and parental support due to his search for a better mate through second marriage. Also explored is Medea's urge to avenge her honor in response to such withdrawal.

This study explored the prevalence of filicide–suicide ideation among Taiwanese parents with school-aged children. Multiple risk factors associated with filicide–suicide ideation were assessed, and the potential effect of traditional family values was evaluated. A random sample of 1,564 parents was recruited from 21 elementary schools in a rural area of Taiwan. Potential risk factors, including demographics, family finance, psychological maladjustment, family interaction, and cultural beliefs, were further examined using a hierarchical logistic regression. Overall, 14.6% of the respondents reported having filicide–suicide ideation during the past year. The hierarchical logistic regression analysis showed that demographic factors including age, gender, and ethnicity had no significant effect. Family finances, depression, and conflict with the respondent's spouse were positively associated with filicide–suicide ideation. Finally, the parents’ beliefs in traditional family values had a positive effect on filicide–suicide ideation. In other words, filicide–suicide thoughts were more common among those who upheld a strong parental responsibility for care giving and family solidarity. This study revealed a substantial prevalence of filicide–suicide ideation among local parents and identified a number of risk factors associated with those thoughts, namely family financial status, parental depression, and conflict with one's spouse. More importantly, the results highlighted the effect of traditional family values in the process. The potential intention of filicide–suicide as mercy killing and its cultural relevance were discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Filicide is the killing of one or more children by a parent, stepparent, or other parental figure. This study presents the first comprehensive analysis of U.S. filicide, drawn from 94,146 filicide arrests tabulated over a 32-year period in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR). Filicides comprised 15% of all murders during this period. Modal victim age was less than one year old. One-third of the victims were under a year old; over two-thirds of the victims were age six or less. Fathers were as likely as mothers to kill infants. The mean age of offenders was 32 years with a mode of 22 years, and nearly three-quarters were aged 18-45. Female offenders were notably younger than their male counterparts. Black (or African American) offenders were significantly overrepresented in filicide compared to Whites. Most common killing methods included using hands and feet, strangulation, beating, asphyxiation, drowning, and defenestration. Stepparents were not at higher risk of filicide than genetic parents, but were twice as likely to kill using firearms. Synthesizing these results with studies from other fields, we propose three transdisciplinary, empirically informed filicide categories primarily defined by effects of (1) psychopathology associated with neurotransmitter disturbances, (2) gender and sex hormones, and (3) evolutionary motives. Approaching filicide using this proposed hypothetical framework for future research may help identify at-risk populations and improve prevention and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early 1970s Japan witnessed the emergence of a new women's liberation movement that put forward an unprecedented gendered critique of Japanese post-war society. Known as ūman ribu (woman lib) or simply ribu (lib), this movement appeared at a historical time when the numerical increase in cases of mothers who killed their own children prompted the news media to describe maternal filicide as a dramatic social phenomenon. This article explores ribu's engagement with the increased public visibility of mothers who kill. It contends that the solidarity and support the movement demonstrated for these criminalised mothers radically challenged idealised notions of motherhood, maternal love and the sanctity of the mother-child bond, and deeply questioned the post-war nuclear family as the cornerstone of society. The article investigates the revolutionary potential of ribu's preoccupation with murderous mothers by framing it in the context of the movement's call for consciousness transformation and for the pursuance of a more genuine relationality, and it gestures towards an understanding of what might be at stake in reading maternal filicide through the interpretative grid of a revolutionary agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Medea complex refers to a disturbed mother-child relationship with obvious destructive aspects, and it evokes a central theme that Jung articulated in his writing about the Terrible Mother. The best-known story of Medea is based on the mythical figure portrayed in Euripides's fifth-century BCE play. The complex, as well as this story, includes elements of betrayal, abandonment, stealing, and vengeance directed at helpless children. Two case examples discuss how the Medea complex appears, first in a parent and second in a son. Maternal and paternal roles in the complex are considered as well as the symbolic implications of killing children. The complex is also examined through interrelated literary and historical depictions of the dangerous feminine as foreign queen from Apollonius, Virgil, and Shakespeare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate epidemiological characteristics of the victims and the offenders in children homicide cases and to propose preventive measures. We retrospectively investigated homicides and deaths by neglect involving children aged 15 or less, which have been autopsied in the Department of Pathology and Legal Medicine of the Raymond Poincaré Hospital, Garches, France, during the 18-year period from 1991 to 2008. Cases included were analyzed for victims’ age and gender, victim-assailant's relation, death cause and scenery, and offender's motivation. For the purposes of the study, victims were divided into four age groups: new born; infants (1–23 months); young children (2–5 years); and children (6–15 years). During the study period, 70 victims of homicide or fatal neglect were identified, which equates to a child homicide prevalence of 0.56 per 100,000 children per year. Slightly more than half of the victims (51.4%) were less than 1 year old. Neonaticide prevalence was 0.12 per 100,000 births with an equal distribution between genders. Neonates were most likely to be killed by their mothers while fathers were the most frequent assailants in both infants and children groups. Stepparents were involved in only one case. Familicide cases where children and spouses are killed were perpetrated only by fathers. The leading cause of death was blunt trauma (especially head trauma). In the neonaticide group, half of the victims died from passive neglect whereas gunshots were predominant in the children groups. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article reflects on the sensitive issue of filicide-suicide in Great Britain. Topics Discussed include the academic narrative of the incidents of filicide-suicide, empirical investigation of several cases of suicide, and how the child abuse are being handled in Great Britain. Also mentioned are the future strategies for controlling the incidences of suicide.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the biographical background and nature of the murder of women who have killed in post-apartheid South Africa. Archival newspaper data were examined and analysed for incidence of murders, the relationships between the women and the victims, sourcing of a third party to carry out the murder, the weapons used in the murder and motivations for the murder. The results suggest that most women who murder do so in the context of filicide or mariticide, the victims are typically someone well-known to the women, sourcing of a third party to commit the murder is relatively common, a knife and gun are the most frequently used weapon to commit the murder and that the primary motivations are financial difficulties or gain. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child abuse is a social problem that receives much attention from policy makers, practitioners, and researchers. This alarming phenomenon generates many consequences for children, their families, and society as a whole; one tragic consequence of child abuse is filicide. Because of the unfortunate circumstances surrounding such events, children are hushed by their perpetrators, whether abusers or killers, and we are thus denied the opportunity to hear their voices and to promote understanding of the phenomenon. The aim of the current study is to explore in depth the patterns and themes that can be found in the narratives of children who survived a murder attempt by one of their parents. Content analysis was performed on seven investigative interviews with children using thematic analysis. Five key categories were determined based on the children's narratives: (a) many bad things have happened to me, (b) this was not the first time I was abused by my parent, (c) I am concerned about my parent, (d) I am alive thanks to my siblings, and (e) it is hard to remember what exactly happened. This study contributes to the understanding of child physical abuse and filicide. The discussion integrated conclusions for policy makers and practitioners who seek methods of addressing child abuse as well as determining whether and how filicide can be prevented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: This study reports a case-series study of 21 women from the United Kingdom convicted of the murder or manslaughter of their child (maternal filicide: MF). These cases were reviewed using data provided from police forces and from publicly available resources. Methods: Content and thematic analysis and multidimensional scaling techniques were used to analyse the relationships between the variables present in the commission of the crimes. Results: Mothers who killed their children could be categorised as emotionally driven and in despair at their situation, or rejecting their children due to perceiving them as a threat. Mothers who killed their babies (neonaticides) appeared to form two distinct subgroups: reluctant and detached neonaticidal offenders. Conclusion: These findings offer an insight into the factors that may be of relevance in understanding how a mother may come to commit MF, and are interpreted in terms of disturbed attachment processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Research has shown that when a child is murdered, a parent is commonly found to be involved in the child's death. However, when a child is abducted prior to being murdered, the likelihood of a parent's involvement decreases significantly. Despite these findings, there are many instances in which parents have become primary suspects in investigations of child abduction homicides. This two-part series examines four cases of child murder that involved an element of abduction where investigators immediately suspected parental involvement. In three of the four cases, the parent suspects were eventually exonerated by DNA evidence after experiencing extensive scrutiny and persistent suspicions of guilt by police. The outcomes of these cases highlight the importance of carefully examining the crime scene by using victimology and crime scene classifications to differentiate between types of child murders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although mothers and fathers are equally likely to kill their children, maternal filicide cases tend to draw more media coverage and community outrage. While traditional gender role expectations appear to contribute to the community response that follows a report of filicide – and influence media representations – little is known about the offenders’ treatment in the criminal justice system. Drawing on theorizing within gender studies, this article examines relationships between traditional gender role expectations and court case outcomes in cases of maternal and paternal filicide. Findings indicate that both verdicts and sentences in these cases vary by gender and that, for female offenders, the differential treatment is related to how well they appear to fit traditional gender roles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]