Hostname: page-component-54dcc4c588-br6xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-03T07:30:39.537Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An Abominable Crime: Filicide in the Context of Parental Separation and Divorce

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 November 2012

Thea Brown  and
Danielle Tyson
Thea Brown*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Danielle Tyson
Affiliation:
Department of Criminology, School of Political and Social Inquiry, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Thea Brown, Department of Social Work, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Caulfield East, Victoria 3930, Australia. Email: Thea.Brown@monash.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The victims of filicide in the context of parental separation and divorce have recently been identified as the largest group among all filicide victims in Australia. Nevertheless, research into this group of victims has been sparse, fragmentary and contradictory, with the consequence that confusion has prevailed. This article critically reflects on the existing research on filicide and argues that it has been insufficiently comprehensive and reliable and, therefore, is not suitable for use as a knowledge base for professional individuals, programmatic and policy interventions, and prevention. The article suggests ways of developing more reliable research for knowledge building and details the data developed so far that underpins their recommendations for a national programme of research.

Keywords

filicideparental separation and divorcechild homicidefamily violencechild abuse

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , December 2012 , pp. 151 - 160
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Alder, C.M., & Polk, K. (1996). Masculinity and child homicide. British Journal of Criminology, 36 (3), 396–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alder, C.M., & Polk, K. (1997). The killing of children in Victoria, 1985–1997: A report to the Criminology Research Council. Parkville: Criminology Department, The University of Melbourne, March, pp. 1–92.Google Scholar
Alder, C.M., & Polk, K. (2001). Child victims of homicide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bagshaw, D., Brown, T., Wendt, S., Campbell, A., McInnes, E., Tinning, B., Batagol, B., Sifris, A., Tyson, D., Baker, J., & Fernandez Arias, P. (2010). The effect of family violence on post-separation parenting arrangements: The experiences and views of children and adults from families who separated post-1995 and post-2006. Family Matters, 86, 35–47.Google Scholar
Bourget, D., & Bradford, J.M. (1990). Homicidal parents. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 35, pp. 233–238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bourget, D., & Gagné, P. (2002). Maternal filicide in Québec. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 30 (2), 345–351.Google ScholarPubMed
Bourget, D., & Gagné, P. (2005). Paternal filicide in Québec. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 33 (3), 354–360.Google ScholarPubMed
Bourget, D., Grace, J., & Whitehurst, L. (2007). A Review of maternal and paternal filicide. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 35 (1), 74–82.Google ScholarPubMed
Brown, T., & Alexander, R. (2007). Child abuse in the context of parental separation and divorce and family law. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Brown, T., & Hampson, R. (2010). An Evaluation of Interventions with Male Perpetrators of Domestic Violence. Melbourne: Monash University, Australian Rotary Research, The Prevention Foundation for Domestic Violence of Australia and Lifeworks.Google Scholar
Brown, T., & Lundgren, A. (2009). The wellbeing of children following parental separation and divorce. A paper presented to the annual conference of the Family Relationship Services Association, 8 November, Sydney.Google Scholar
Brown, T., Frederico, M., Hewitt, L., & Sheehan, R. (1998). Violence in families, Report No. 1. The management of child abuse allegations in custody and access disputes before the Family Court of Australia. Melbourne: Family Violence and Family Court Research Program, Monash University.Google Scholar
Carlyon, P., & Anderson, P. (2011). The death of Darcey: A dad's monstrous act. Adelaide Now, 30 March. Retrieved from http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/west-gate-bridge-tragedy-arthur-freeman-guilty-of-murdering-daughter-darcey/story-fn6t2xlc-1226029724884.Google Scholar
Chisholm, R. (2009). Family Court Violence Review: A report by Professor Richard Chisholm. Canberra: Australian Government Attorney-General's Department.Google Scholar
d'Orban, P.T. (1979). Women who kill their children. British Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 560–571.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Danson, L., & Soothill, K. (1996). Child murder and the media: A study of the reporting of child murder in The Times 1887–1990. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 7 (3), 495–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Draper, E. (2011). Parents who kill their kids not always insane, expert says, The Denver Post, 27 May.Google Scholar
Fewster, S. (2011). Why some fathers kill their children. The Advertiser, 18 May.Google Scholar
Goldney, R. (1977). Family murder followed by suicide. Forensic Science, 9, 219–228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horin, A. (2011). Obsessive love lost: Why some fathers kill. The Age, 18 May.Google Scholar
Irving, S., ed. (2009). Homicide. Nolos Plain-English Law Dictionary. Berkeley: Nolo. 204–205. Retrieved from http://www.nolo.com/dictionary/homicide-term.html.Google Scholar
Jewkes, Y. (2011). Media & crime. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Johnson, C.H. (2002). Familicide and disputed residency and contact in Western Australia: A contemporary picture. Unpublished MA Thesis, University of Western Australia.Google Scholar
Johnson, C.H. (2005). Come with daddy: Child murder-suicide after family breakdown. Crawley, WA: University of Western Australia Press.Google Scholar
Johnson, C.H. (2008). Intimate partner homicide and familicide in Western Australia. Invited keynote paper, Australian Institute of Criminology, International Conference on Homicide. Surfers Paradise, Queensland, December.Google Scholar
Johnston, S.I. (1997). Medea: Essays on Medea in myth, literature, philosophy, and art. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Kirkwood, D. (2011). Men's murderous revenge. The Age, 13 April.Google Scholar
Kirkwood, D. (2012). ‘Just say goodbye’: Parents who kill their children in the context of separation. Discussion Paper, No 8. Melbourne: Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria.Google Scholar
Kissane, K. (2007). Killer dads – why they do it. The Age, 7 October.Google Scholar
Lillebuen, S., & Scott, E. (2010). Boss baffled by man who killed children. The Age, 12 April.Google Scholar
Liem, M., & Koenraadt, F. (2008). Familicide: a comparison with spousal and child homicide by mentally disordered perpetrators. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, Wiley InterScience. Retrieved from http://www.interscience.wiley.comGoogle Scholar
Martin, J., & Pritchard, R. (2010). Learning from tragedy: Homicide within families in New Zealand. Centre for Social research and Evaluation, Te Pokapu Rangahau Arotaki Hapori, Ministry of Social Development, Te Manatu Whakahiato Ora, Wellington, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Mouzos, J., & Rushworth, C. (2003). Family homicide in Australia. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 255, 1–6. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.Google Scholar
Munro, I. (1997). Dark secrets. Sunday Age, 6 July, p. 15.Google Scholar
New South Wales Commission for Young People (2008). Trends in the fatal assault of children. New South Wales Child Death Review Team. Sydney: New South Wales Commission for Young People.Google Scholar
Newton, R., Fredericks, J., Wilson, E., Dibben, M., & Goddard, C. (2010). Legislation and child death review processes in Australia. University of NSW Law Journal, 33 (3), 987–1012Google Scholar
Nikunen, M. (2006). Parenthood in murder-suicide news: Idealized fathers and murderous mums. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention, 7 (2), 164–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nikunen, M. (2011). Murder-suicide in the news: Doing the routine and the drama. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 14 (1), 81–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noveck, J. (2011). Moms killing kids not nearly as rare as we think. Associated Press, 17 April.Google Scholar
Oberman, M., & Meyer, C.L. (2008). When mothers kill: Interviews from prison. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Oliffe, J., & Phillips, M. (2008). Men, depression and masculinities. Journal of Mental Health, 5 (3), 194–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ooms, T. (2006). A sociologist's perspective on domestic violence: A conversation with Michael Johnson, Ph.D. Centre for Law and Social Policy. Retrieved from hhttp://www.clasp.org.admin/site/publications_states/files/0314.pdf.Google Scholar
Overington, C. (2010). Are parents who kill their children insane . . . or evil? The Australian, 24 July.Google Scholar
Polk, K. (1994). When men kill: Scenarios of masculine violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Reid, S. (2010). There was no warning: Grandmother at loss over family killings. The Age, 13 April.Google Scholar
Resnick, P.J. (1969). Child murder by parents: A psychiatric review of filicide. American Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 325–334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Resnick, P.J. (1970). Murder of the newborn: A psychiatric review of neonaticide. American Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 1414–1420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riddell, R. (2008). Family Court: Protecting children from family violence. Paper presented at the International Conference on Child Labour and Child Exploitation, Cairns, Australia, 3–5 August 2008. Retrieved from http://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/family-court/publications/speeches-and-papers/protecting-children-from-family-violence (accessed 20 March 2012).Google Scholar
Robinson, P. (1998). ‘Thank God it can be no worse’. In McClaughlan, T. (Ed.), Irish women in colonial Australia. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Schlesinger, L.B. (2000). Familicide, depression and catathymic process. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 45, 200–203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strang, H. (1996). Child victims of homicide. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 53. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.Google Scholar
Stroud, J. (2008). A psychosocial analysis of child homicide. Critical Social Policy, 28 (4), 482–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stroud, J., & Pritchard, C. (2001). Child homicide, psychiatric disorder and dangerousness: A review and an empirical approach. British Journal of Social Work, 31, 249–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UNICEF (2011). United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/crc/Google Scholar
Varcoe, C., & Irwin, L. (2004). ‘If I killed you, I'd get the kids’: Women's survival and protection work with child custody and access in the context of women abuse. Qualitative Sociology, 27 (1), 77–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Victorian Child Death Review Committee (2009). Annual report of inquiries into the deaths of children known to Child Protection. Melbourne: Victorian Child Death Review Committee, Office of Child Safety Commissioner.Google Scholar
Victorian Law Reform Commission (2004). Defences to homicide: Final report. Melbourne: Victorian Law Reform Commission.Google Scholar
Wallerstein, J., & Blakeslee, S. (1989). Second chances. Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.Google Scholar
Wallerstein, J., & Kelly, J. (1979). Surviving the breakup. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar