"Maternal filicide-the killing of a child by the mother-is not a new phenomenon. Evidence of mothers killing their infants dates back to at least 2000 B.C.E. and the ancient Chaldean civilization. The trial of Andrea Yates in 2001 for drowning her five children, however, captured the public attention in a way few similar cases had before. Initially met with public shock and outrage, the Yates case also spotlighted postpartum psychosis and maternal mental health forensics-the intersection of maternal mental illness and the criminal justice system. Coedited by George Parnham, the attorney who successfully defended Yates, this book includes his narrative account of how he first heard about and came to take on the case. It also features real case examples from more than 30 experts in the field representing eight countries. In addition, the book includes a chapter on paternal filicide, an important subject that receives far too little attention in the literature. Firmly rooted in research, thorough in its description of theory, and packed with practical applications, this volume highlights the necessary competency areas for those involved in maternal mental health forensics, whether psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, or lawyers"--

Maternal infanticide, or the murder of a child in its first year of life by its mother, elicits sorrow, anger, horror, and outrage. But the perpetrator is often a victim, too. The editor of this revealing work asks us to reach beyond rage, stretch the limits of compassion, and enter the minds of mothers who kill their babies -- with the hope that advancing the knowledge base and stimulating inquiry in this neglected area of maternal-infant research will save young lives. Written to help remedy today's dearth of up-to-date, research-based literature, this unique volume brings together a multidisciplinary group of 17 experts -- scholars, clinicians, researchers, clinical and forensic psychiatrists, pediatric psychoanalysts, attorneys, and an epidemiologist -- who focus on the psychiatric perspective of this tragic cause of infant death. This comprehensive, practical work is organized into four parts for easy reference: Part I presents historical and epidemiological data, including a compelling discussion of the contrasting legal views of infanticide in the United States, United Kingdom, and other Western countries, a review of the latest statistics on maternal infanticide, and a discussion of the problems of underreporting and the lack of available documentation. Part II covers the psychiatric, psychological, cultural, and biological underpinnings of infanticide, detailing how to identify, evaluate, and treat postpartum psychiatric disorders. The authors explore clinical diagnosis, symptom recognition, risk factors, biological precipitants, and alternative motives, such as cultural infanticide. Chapter 3, developed to assist the attorney or mental health professional in understanding the implications of postpartum psychiatric illness as they relate to infanticide, presents a sensitive and thorough inquiry into infanticidal ideation. Part III focuses on contemporary legislation, criminal defenses, and disparate treatment in U.S. law and compares U.S. law with the U.K.'s model of probation and treatment. Chapter 8 is an especially useful resource for the attorney or expert psychiatric witness preparing for an infanticide/neonaticide case in the criminal court system. Part IV discusses clinical experience with mothers as perpetrators and countertransference in therapy, the range of mother-infant interactions (from healthy to pathological), and methods of early intervention and prevention. This balanced perspective on a highly emotional issue will find a wide audience among psychiatric and medical professionals (child, clinical, and forensic psychiatrists and psychologists; social workers; obstetricians/gynecologists and midwives; nurses; and pediatricians), legal professionals (judges, attorneys, law students), public health professionals, and interested laypersons.

From governments that enact population-limiting legislation or commit wholesale neonaticide, to families who purposely allow a weak, infirm, or unfavorably gendered infant to perish rather than expend limited resources, neonaticide, infanticide, and filicide, are practiced on every continent and by every level of cultural complexity. Taking

Forensic Medicine encompasses all areas in which medicine and law interact. This book covers diverse aspects of forensic medicine including forensic pathology, traumatology and violent death, sudden and unexpected death, clinical forensic medicine, toxicology, traffic medicine, identification, haemogenetics and medical law. A knowledge of all these subdisciplines is necessary in order to solve routine as well as more unusual cases. Taking a comprehensive approach the book m.oves beyond a focus on forensic pathology to include clinical forensic medicine and forensic toxicology. All aspects of forensic medicine are covered to meet the specialist needs of daily casework. Aspects of routine analysis and quality control are addressed in each chapter. The book provides coverage of the latest developments in forensic molecular biology, forensic toxicology, molecular pathology and immunohistochemistry. A must-have reference for every specialist in the field this book is set to become the bench-mark for the international forensic medical community.

An inside look into patterns and potential prevention plans for one of the most hotly sensationalized crimes A special kind of horror is reserved for mothers who kill their children. Cases such as those of Susan Smith, who drowned her two young sons by driving her car into a lake, and Melissa Drexler, who disposed of her newborn baby in a restroom at her prom, become media sensations. Unfortunately, in addition to these high-profile cases, hundreds of mothers kill their children in the United States each year. The question most often asked is, why? What would drive a mother to kill her own child? Those who work with such cases, whether in clinical psychology, social services, law enforcement or academia, often lack basic understandings about the types of circumstances and patterns which might lead to these tragic deaths, and the social constructions of motherhood which may affect women's actions. These mothers oftentimes defy the myths and media exploitation of them as evil, insane, or lacking moral principles, and they are not a homogenous group. In obvious ways, intervention strategies should differ for a teenager who denies her pregnancy and then kills her newborn and a mother who kills her two toddlers out of mental illness or to further a relationship. A typology is needed to help us to understand the different cases that commonly occur and the patterns they follow in order to make possible more effective prevention plans. Mothers Who Kill Their Children draws on extensive research to identify clear patterns among the cases of women who kill their children, shedding light on why some women commit these acts. The characteristics the authors establish will be helpful in creating more meaningful policies, more targeted intervention strategies, and more knowledgeable evaluations of these cases when they arise.

From infancy onward, children are in danger from many sources, including parental and sibling abuse, drug abuse and mental illness in the home, parental neglect, and poverty. Removing an at-risk child from a troubled environment brings on a host of new concerns and is not always a panacea. Endangered Children: Homicide, and Other Crimes, Second Edi

Contains a collection of twelve essays about the practice of infanticide in different parts of the world. This book includes a multidisciplinary bibliography of the infanticide literature.

People are horrified when parents kill their children, yet this act occurs daily on a global basis. Endangered Children: Neonaticide, Infanticide and Filicide provides a psychological, sociological, and criminological perspective of these acts, as the authors answer the many questions that arise from these crimes. With an emphasis on neonati

This book, in the main, is devoted to the question of benevolent infanticide. Its primary purpose is to understand what conditions, if any, warrant allowing or inducing the death of a seriously defective infant. More generally, the debate is concerned with two questions: what are the limits of the value of life? And what moral, legal, or other kinds of protection should be provided for the most helpless and vulnerable of all human beings?

The Handbook of Homicide presents a series of original essays by renowned authors from around the world, reflecting the latest scholarship on the nature, causes, and patterns of homicide, as well as policies and practices for its investigation and prevention. Includes comprehensive coverage of the complex phenomenon of homicide and its various forms Features original contributions from an esteemed team of global experts and scholars with chapters highlighting the authors’ original research Represents the first internationally-focused collection of the latest research on the nature and causes of homicide Covers both the causes and dynamics of homicide, as well as policies and practices intended to address it