Mothers Who Killed or Attempted to Kill Their Child: Life Circumstances, Childhood Abuse, and Types of Killing

• NCJ Number: 180719
• Journal: Violence and Victims Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: 1999 Pages: 219-239
• Author(s): Jaana Haapasalo; Sonja Petaja
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 21 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Finland Ministry of Social Affairs and Health; Finland Academy of Sciences
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This study examines life circumstances, childhood abuse and types of homicidal acts of 48 Finnish mothers who killed or attempted to kill their child(ren).

Abstract

The children were under age 12 between 1970-96. Data on the mothers were collected from mental state examination (MSE) reports. Cases were divided into 15 neonaticides and 33 killings of an older child. Childhood abuse was documented in 63 percent of the mothers' MSE reports. Qualitative analysis identified neonaticides, joint homicide-suicide attempts, impulsive aggression, psychotic acts, postpartum depression and abusive acts. Nonlinear principal components analysis showed that different variables were related to the neonaticide and non-neonaticide cases. The study concluded that, despite differences in the psychosocial profiles of neonaticides and other maternal homicidal acts, the cycle of violence perspective can be applied to both cases, even though it may not be a sufficient explanation for maternal child killings. Tables, figure, references