THE CASE OF
ANDREA YATES
HER BACKGROUND
Graduated from high school as valedictorian
Captain of the swim team
Officer in the National Honor Society
Worked as a registered nurse at the University
of Texas M.D. Cancer Center from 1986 – 1994
Met her husband in a religious study & planned
to have as many children as nature provided
Had 5 children: 4 boys and 1 girl
GROWING CONCERNS
Andrea got into an extremist religious group that
preached women are derived from the sin of
Eve and bad mothers go to hell, along with their
children
First suicide attempt: 1999, tried overdosing on
pills  diagnosed with a major depressive
disorder and released from the hospital
SPIRALING DOWNWARDS
 Andrea did not take the medication  started self
mutilation & refused to feed her kids because she
thought they were eating too much
 Video cameras in the celings; said characters in the
cartoons were talking to her children
 Attempted suicide again in front of her husband with a
knife to her neck  hospitalized again and was in a
catatonic state for 10 days
WARNED ABOUT RISKS OF HAVING
MORE BABIES
 She was effectively being treated with Haldol, an
antipsychotic drug; she seemed like herself again.
 Doctor warned her to not have any more kids because
it could bring on more psychotic behavior due to
hormonal changes
 Her husband purchases a bigger home, and her
condition continued to improve  had relationships with
her children again
THE TRAGIC END
 March 2000, Andrea becomes pregnant with her 5th
child, Mary  husband urges her to stop taking the
Haldol
 A few months after she was born, Andrea’s father died
 Stopped taking meds, refused liquids, mutilation, and wouldn’t
feed Mary
 Frantically read the Bible
 She was sent back in to a different hospital, but told she
didn’t appear psychotic. She was told to “think happy
thoughts and see a psychologist”
 Two days later, she drowns all 5 children in her bathtub
THE TRIAL
 May 2000: The Trial of Andrea Yates lasted 3 weeks
 Found guilty of capital murder, and sentenced to life in
prison  in 2041 (77 yrs old), eligible for parole
 July 2006: appealed the life sentence  found Andrea
not guilty of murder by reason of insanity
 Sentenced to spend an indefinite amount of time in a
mental facility
VIDEOS
The Andrea Yates Story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/4006974
#4006974
Six Years Later, Jury Finds Yates Not Guilty
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/1404318
6#14043186
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY?
THE SIX PERSPECTIVES
ON ANDREA YATES
What perspective do YOU think best explains her
behavior?
1. Cognitive: Mental functioning – she thought she was possessed by the devil and her
children were not developing properly
2. Biological (neuroscience): biological defect, bipolar diagnosis, neurotransmitter
problems, postpartum depression, or mood disorder that runs in the family
3. Social-Cultural: Family dynamics, husband and extended family not supportive
4. Behavioral: learned response, negative environmental influences
5. Psychoanalytic: childhood conflicts or trauma results in unconscious forces prevailing
6. Humanistic: Lost faith in self as a mother, hopelessness