Intimate and Family Murder

1. Intimate and Family Murder Higgins O’Brien Spring 2012

2. Killing for Profit and Practicality • Intimate and family murders can take place for many reasons and motives • Jealousy • Revenge • Attention seeking • Mercy • Patricide/Matricide: Killing of father or mother • Fratricide/Sororicide: Killing of brother or sister • Filicide: Killing of children by parents • Infanticide: Killing of young children

3. Obsession and Jealousy • “Romantic Triangles” can lead to violence • This occurs in both hetero and homosexual relationships

4. Power, Control, and Abuse • Most intimate partner homicide is an expression of power or a defensive response to it • Lethal force is unlikely to be the first violent episode in the relationship • Some relationships held together through intimidation and aggression • “Learned Helplessness” • “Stockholm syndrome”

5. Power, Control, and Abuse continued • Survival instinct may tell the victim to end the relationship, but they may feel safer with the abuser than try and separate • “Abandonment Rage” occurs when there is an attempt to end the relationship • Long term abuse can occur, before one of the parties escalate the violence • Because of this, spouses who are abused have used “battered women’s syndrome” as justification for murder

6. Power, Control, and Abuse continued • Due to the work of advocacy groups and victim services, domestic violence homicide has dropped 60% since 1976 • However, some policies are debated • Protective court orders have shown to increase violence in some cases • Social intervention varies greatly throughout the country • Some believe the drop in crime rate has occurred simply due to cultural changes

7. Family Annihilation • Occasionally domestic murders will involve more than the primary victim, taking out the entire family • Usually committed by the husband/father • May believe it is what’s “best” for the children • Possible causes include • Separation/Divorce • Child custody battle • Revenge • Wishes to commit suicide • Strain

8. Parricide • Most parricides involve just one of the parents • Offenders are usually adult males who have a serious mental illness • Schizophrenia • Antisocial personality disorder • Can be a response to severe physical/sexual abuse

9. Filicide • Juries often have little sympathy for parents who murder their children • Researchers believe possible causes include • Psychosis • Antisocial Personality Disorder • Situational Loss/ Trauma • Mothers are most likely to kill in first year of life • Fathers more likely to kill older children

10. Infanticide • Children experience the greatest risk from parents in the first few years of life • About 600-700 children (under 5) killed in the United States per year • Most newborns that are killed are done so by mothers that are young and poor, who may not have intended to have a child • Stranger offenders do exist, but the majority of these crimes are committed by the parents (70%)

11. Infanticide continued • Munchausen Syndrom by Proxy: victims are exploited as pawns to fulfill the offenders' needs • Profit • Companionship • Vengeance • If a parent knows violence is taking place and does not stop it, they can be charged with “failure to protect” • Controversial, as it comes into play against mothers who may also be victims of violence in the household

12. Motherhood by Proxy • The desire to be a parent, can lead some individuals to steal children from mothers who have just given birth • Most are non-violent, but there have been cases where babies were cut from the womb • “Pseudocyesis” is when a women believes to be pregnant when she is not

13. Killing for Love? • Elderly family members are particularly vulnerable • Motivations to kill very old family members • Emotional problems • Monetary gain • Euthanasia (Killing to end suffering)

14. Murder-Suicide • Many parents who kill their children commit suicide • There are also cases of “suicide by cop” • Men are most likely • Individuals who are possessive and depressed • Offenders who fail in suicide often claim the act was out of “love”

15. Prevention and Response • Some studies believe that children who are spanked are at a higher risk for behavioral problems • This can increase criminality, and promote a culture of accepted violence • Some believe alcohol and drugs are contributing factors, but research does not support this • Many social service programs aim to keep families together, even if the household is violent • There continues to be an aversion towards foster homes • Must be better ways to address the “red flags” seen in some parents' behavior