Why Mothers Kill

1. Introduction2. Neonaticide, infanticide, and filicide research: What do we know?3. Classification of maternal filicide: What do we know?4. Risk analysis and the Maternal Filicide Risk Matrix5. Prevention and Risk Intervention Points6. Detached mother-Denial type: Cathy7. Detached mother-Ambivalent type: Edna8. Detached mother-Resentful type: Francine9. Detached mother-Exhausted type: Glenda10. Abusive/neglectful mother-Recurrent type: Harriet11. Abusive/neglectful mother-Reactive type: Janet12. Abusive/neglectful mother-Inadequate type: Kaye13. Psychotic/depressed mother-Delusional type: Ba.

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.

Few crimes generate greater public reaction than those where a mother murders her child. We are repelled, yet mesmerized, by the emerging details of cases such as Andrea Yates and Susan Smith. Annually, hundreds of infants and young children perish at the hands of their mothers. How could a mother destroy the first and most fundamental relationship we experience? In Why Mothers Kill: A Forensic Psychologist's Casebook, Geoffrey R. McKee, Ph.D. uses more than a dozen case studies from his 29-year forensic psychological evaluation practice to help us, and most importantly, prevent these horrific events from occurring. He applies current research findings to analyze, explain, and suggest practical interventions to alter the personal, familial, and situational circumstances that may influence some mothers to kill. With an emphasis on prevention, Dr. McKee sets out specific strategies that might have been employed at various "risk intervention points" occurring before the child's death. Through the use of extended narratives the author brings to life the thoughts and emotions experienced by women in each of the five categories of mothers he has identified from his years of practice. Additionally, the author presents the Maternal Filicide Risk Matrix which he developed to help mental health and medical professionals determine the risk and protective factors that lead mothers to kill their children. Students, as well as mental health and medical professionals will find this an important and unique resource.

Meyer and Oberman--in their desire to better understand mothers who kill--recount their interviews with women imprisoned for maternal filicide and reveal the collective themes that emerge from the women's individual accounts.

This compelling and unique collection of critical and creative work assesses for the first time cultural, literary, legal and historical representations and narratives about mothers who kill and filicide. The idea of a mother killing her child to many presents the greatest taboo, and the most disturbing and distressing aspect of maternal experience. In Toni Morrison's 1987 novel Beloved, escaped slave mother Sethe addresses her daughter Beloved whom she murdered out of desperation, in order to avoid her returning to a life of slavery and sexual abuse. Sethe reflects, "I'll explain to her, even though I don't have to. Why I did it. How if I hadn't killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her. When I explain it she'll understand." This book goes beyond Morrison's widely known literary portrayal, in order to investigate a range of other, less known but no less challenging, examinations of maternal filicide. Have mothers who kill inevitably been portrayed as monsters in cultural representations? Or are there certain contexts that may urge us to reevaluate maternal behavior? And how might we counter the misogynist narratives surrounding maternal

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.

Few crimes generate greater public reaction than those where a mother murders her child. We are repelled, yet mesmerized, by the emerging details of cases such as Andrea Yates and Susan Smith. Annually, hundreds of infants and young children perish at the hands of their mothers. How could a mother destroy the first and most fundamental relationship we experience? In Why Mothers Kill: A Forensic Psychologist's Casebook, Geoffrey R. McKee, Ph.D. uses more than a dozen case studies from his 29-year forensic psychological evaluation practice to help us, and most importantly, prevent these horrific events from occurring. He applies current research findings to analyze, explain, and suggest practical interventions to alter the personal, familial, and situational circumstances that may influence some mothers to kill. With an emphasis on prevention, Dr. McKee sets out specific strategies that might have been employed at various "risk intervention points" occurring before the child's death. Through the use of extended narratives the author brings to life the thoughts and emotions experienced by women in each of the five categories of mothers he has identified from his years of practice. Additionally, the author presents the Maternal Filicide Risk Matrix which he developed to help mental health and medical professionals determine the risk and protective factors that lead mothers to kill their children. Students, as well as mental health and medical professionals will find this an important and unique resource.

Child murder: a social taboo and one of the most abhorrent acts most of us can imagine. Meet the women found guilty of murdering their own children. They represent some of the most hated women in Australia. The infamous list includes psychologically damaged, sometimes deranged, women on the edge. But, as we will see, accused doesn t always mean guilty. Among the cases covered is that of Kathleen Folbigg, accused and found guilty of killing four of her children, even with a lack of any forensic evidence proving her guilt; Rachel Pfitzner, who strangled her 2-year-old son and dumped his body in a duck pond; as well as Keli Lane, found guilty of child murder though no body has ever been found. Dr Mallett goes back to the beginning of each case death s ground zero. That might be the accused s childhood, were they abused? Or was their motivation greed, or fear of losing a partner? Were they just simply evil? Or did the media paint them as such, against the evidence and leading to a travesty of justice? Each case will be re-opened, the alternative suspects assessed, the possible motives reviewed. Informed by her background as a forensic scientist, Xanthe will offer insight into aspects of the cases that may not have been explored previously. Taking you on her journey through the facts, and reaching her own conclusion as to whether she believes the evidence points to the women s guilt. Hear their stories."