For the crime of a parent killing a child, women are just as likely overall as men to be the perpetrator. But the filicides committed by women correlate more strongly with a previously identified mental illness and with a very young age (infants) of the child, whereas those committed by men do not.
SpringerLink - Journal Article
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Published online: 4 May 2007
Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify sociodemographic, contextual, situational, and individual variables, as well as certain behavioral warning signs, associated with filicide as a function of sex of the agressors and the presence or absence of self-destructive behaviours. The data cover all officially registered filicides committed in Quebec from January 1, 1986, to March 31, 1994, against youths under the age of 18 years. For the group of individuals who have self-destructive behaviours, results indicate that
men compared to women are more likely to commit spousal homicide, to kill a higher number of victims, to be going through a conjugal separation,
to have committed conjugal violence, to have threatened suicide, and to have threatened to kill their spouse. For the group of individuals who commit no self-destructive acts,
women are more likely to present with a depressive disorder, whereas men are more likely to maltreated their children. Men who do not commit a self-destructive act are characterized by a significantly higher likelihood of maltreatment against their children and of tyrannical discipline, whereas
men who commit a self-destructive act perpetrate filicide as a means of reprisal against their spouse. Results underscore the importance of considering the different groups of individuals who commit filicide as a function of sex as well as presence or absence of self-destructive behaviour.
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Given that this is an unscientific technique for gathering evidence of a hypothesis, in the following lists of articles, watch for any any correlation between the mental health of the parent, the age(s) of the children killed, whether spousal conflict was a factor, and whether parent suicide was also part of the incident. See whether you are struck by the tendency for the fathers to strike out at older children, have histories of spousal and child abuse, and show an absence of prior mental illness. The conclusion I would draw is that the fathers are acting out of a malformed notion of "male dominance" in punishing the children and spouse.
Google search: father kills children
father kills children - Google Search
Google search: mother kills children
mother kills children - Google Search
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