Mothers who kill: Cross-cultural
patterns on contemporary
maternal filicide
Based on research by Michelle
Oberman (2003)
Maternal filicide
• Is not random or unpredictable crime
• It is actually imbedded in
• And responsive to the society in which it
occurs
One fundamental similarity
Mother was unable to parent their child
under the circumstances dictated by:
• Position in society
• Place
• Time
Best way to protect children
• Reevaluate societal norms which govern
motherhood and women’s status
Neonaticide
• Killing of one’s offspring within the first 24 hours
of life
• Typically involve young women
• Wide range of socio-economic, religious and
racial background
• The women deny that they are pregnant
• Denial triggered by fear they will be cut off
by social support network
• Boyfriends almost always leave as soon
as they realize their condition
Neonaticide
• Have a true sense of fear regarding their
pregnancy
• Tend to be deeply ambivalent
• Due to religion, culture, money,
ambivalence and immaturity, they are
unable or unwilling to pursue either
abortion or adoption
Disassociate
• From their own bodies during pregnancy
• Deny the inevitable
• Mistake labor pains for a need to defecate
• Overwhelming majority give birth on the
toilet
• Often give birth in complete silence
• This could be caused by psychotic dissociation
• Subsequent psychiatric evaluation reveals that prior to
pregnancy
• Suffered from severe dissociative states
• Associated with history of early abuse and chaotic family
life
Fatal child neglect
• Not intentional killings
• Usually occurs when mother is distracted
from or inattentive to her child’s needs
• Example: babies who die in tub while
mom answers phone in another room
• Occasionally the mom was socializing
while the child is left unattended
• Majority of these moms live alone
• Isolated
• Relatively poor
Historically
• Fatal child neglect would have been
treated as tragic accidents
• Contemporary U.S. this is treated as
homicides
Abuse-related maternal filicide
• Women who kill during an episode of
violent abuse
• Sometimes it is a single act of violence
• Majority of cases there is a long history of
child abuse
Predictable patterns in abuserelated deaths
• Specific hours during each day children
are most at risk of death by homicide
• Coincide with mealtimes and bedtimes
• Often stressful, arguments and need to
disciple (even in stable loving households)
Assisted or coerced maternal
filicide
• Women who kill in conjunction with their
male partner
• Reflects the overlapping problems of
domestic violence and child abuse
• Most of these moms fail to intervene to
protect their child from harm
Purposeful maternal filicide
• Mothers manifest some degree of mental
illness
• Combination of mom’s mental illness and
her relative isolation as primary caretaker
• Occurs when severely ill women who are
expected to care for their children, without
any outside support for extended periods
Andrea Yates
• History of suicidal behavior and post
partum depression
• Hospitalized one month prior to drowning
her five children
• Doctor and family knew she was suicidal
Andrea felt pressured to
• Return home to her family
• Home schooling four of her children
• Caring for newborn
• Attending to her frail mother
• Mourning the death of her father from
Alzheimer's
• Rusty Yates worked long hours
• He refused to have outside babysitters in
his home
• Andrea’s only relief was when her motherin-law visited (which was rare)
Contemporary India
• In developed nations sex ratio is 1050
females to 100 males
• In India sex ratio is 927 females to 1000
males
• Only explanation for a sex ratio that favors
males is social intervention
Excessive female child morality is
caused by several factors
• Female maternal filicide
• Prenatal screening and sex-selective
abortion
• Neglect of the nutritional and health care
needs for girl children
Underlying cause of female
maternal filicide in India
• Low status of women
• Decreasing fertility
• Son preference
• Spread of dowry across all caste groups
Unlike in the U.S.
• Women who commit neonaticide do not conceal
their pregnancies
• They are married and not isolated
• Families are aware of their pregnancies
• And often insist unwanted daughters are
destroyed
Contemporary Fiji
• Majority of the population are of Indian
descent
• Unemployment rate is high
• Most live in rural setting
• Access to family planning services is
limited
• Abortion is illegal
• Births outside marriage are scorned
Similar to U.S.
• Most neonaticidal moms concealed their
pregnancy
• Little evidence of gender specific maternal
filicide
• No dowry system
Historically
• When a culture has stringent restrictions
on women’s sexuality
• Including illegal abortions, lack of
contraception and single parenting is not
accepted
• Neonatides will increase
Contemporary Fiji
• Domestic violence is common
• No neglect-related maternal filicide occurs
Contemporary Hungary
• Declining birth rate (-0.5%)
• Government has pronatalist policies
• Police statistics: one child is murdered by
its mother every week
• 50% of these cases involve infants
Starting in 1994
• Government introduced new measures
• Halted funding of contraceptive pills
• Monthly income is $100 (U.S.) and the pill
costs $3.50
• 80% of adolescents are sexually active
• Large percentage do not usual any form of
contraception
• Abortion is restricted. Woman must prove
a “crisis situation” before it is allowed
Vulnerabilities of Hungarian women
• Hard to secure employment and housing
• Sexual harassment in the workplace is virtually
epidemic
• There are no laws against sexual harassment
• Domestic violence is commonplace
• Few shelters, no restraining orders exist
• Rape is viewed as a “private” crime
• Age of consent is 14
• Rape victims’ behavior is seen as material
element in the case
Hungary is learning the hard way
• Restricting abortion does not necessarily
result in higher birth rates
• Good sex education and subsidized
contraceptives are needed
• You cannot force women to have babies
against their wishes