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)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sxm6gROxcQ&feature=related
 Diane’s Parole Hearing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsV1u25eXR4&feature=related
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.
 http://www.writeaprisoner.com/inmateBlogs/Default.aspx
Susan’s profile
 http://www.writeaprisoner.com/template.aspx
?i=z221487&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
 http://www.ipiu.org/forums/showthread.php?9
761-Baby-Killer-Susan-Smith-now-seeks-acaring-loving-quot-penpal-quot-!
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 2040.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjJuN9Qfr0
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