Women who have killed their children

Child killing Child killing has occurred throughout ages 1. Malformation of the infant 2. Economic distress 3. Social disgrace

Modern times Child killing remains true today Although men are more likely to murder in general, statistical review of prosecutions show that infanticide is usually committed by the mother.

Diane Downs (1983) Diane’s Parole Hearing:

Susan Smith (1994) Susan Smith slinked the car into John D. Long Lake while her two sons Michael and Alex were asleep in the back seat, strapped into their car seats.

The Confession By the ninth day since the carjacking Susan was beginning to be worn down by the intensive and lengthy interrogations. Finally, Sheriff Wells and Susan met in a small room in the Family Center of the First Baptist Church, located on the same street as the Union County Courthouse.

Mothers who kill Smith blamed her behavior on troubles with her current boyfriend, who did not want the responsibility of her children

The Verdict and Sentence It took the jury two-and-a-half hours to return a verdict of guilty of two counts of murder. Susan Smith received life sentence without parole

Aftermath Since her incarceration at South Carolina's Leath Correctional Institution, two guards have been punished for having sex with Smith. Her sexual activity in prison was discovered after she developed a sexually transmitted disease. Blogs/Default.aspx Blogs/Default.aspx

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Andrea Yates In Texas, Andrea Yates, 37, drowned her five young children, including a 6-month-old infant, in the family's bathtub. Yates defense team said later in court that a severe post-partum depression triggered her murderous rage Yates was sentenced to life with a chance at parole in the year I&feature=related I&feature=related

Numbers Homicide is one of the leading causes of death of children under age four Young children at the highest risk of homicide are those under age 1

Motivations Acute psychosis or gross mental pathology Damaged sense of self Unwanted child Physical abuse due to childhood maltreatment of women (“learned violence”) Revenge (an attempt to punish the husband or partner) Mercy killing

Self-psychology consideration Killing emanates from the need to destroy the imagery of attacking forces responsible for one’s own pain Child is not the literal object that she intends to destroy, but rather is representative of some other object worthy of destruction Motherless mothers are less capable of parenting children

Psychosis Rejection by a child can have exactly the same emotional impact on the parent as did rejection by his or her mother in the past, evoking the same anxiety, rage, or depression Killing of the child might be viewed as symbolic suicide Majority of child killers attempted suicide more than once Self-inflicted harm (overdose, cutting wrists, etc)

Risk Factors Motherless mothers Abusive partners Substance use in family of origin Subject use of alcohol and drugs Serous harm witnessed/experienced during childhood Self-inflicted harm Psychological distress (e.g., depression) Feeling of worthlessness