Filicide Followed by Parasuicide: A Comparison of Suicidal and Non-Suicidal Child Homicide

• NCJ Number: 231991
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 34 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2010 Pages: 558-562
• Author(s): Marieke Liem; Renee de Vet; Frans Koenraadt
• Date Published: August 2010
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This retrospective clinical study, which is part of a larger research project on domestic homicide in the Netherlands (Koenraadt and Liem, 2005; Liem and Koenraadt, 2008), compared the demographic, perpetrator, and incident characteristics of filicides (killing one's child) with filicides followed by the perpetrators' parasuicides (failed suicides).

Abstract

The study found that perpetrators of filicide and filicide-parasuicide did not differ in gender. All filicide-parasuicide perpetrators were the biological parents of the victims, and they were, on average, older than nonsuicidal perpetrators of filicide; on average, the victims of parasuicidal perpetrators were also older compared with victims of nonsuicidal filicide perpetrators. Perpetrators of filicide-parasuicide were more likely to have experienced a conjugal separation compared to nonsuicidal filicide perpetrators. In addition, filicide-parasuicide perpetrators were less likely to have physically abused their children prior to the filicide. The majority of perpetrators in both groups had at least one mental disorder. Filicide-parasuicides were more likely to involve multiple victims. Regarding motives for the filicide, none of the filicide-parasuicide perpetrators had killed their victims in the course of a physical abuse; they were more likely to kill their children in reprisal against an intimate partner or out of a pseudo-altruistic motive compared to filicide-nonsuicidal perpetrators. Suicidal perpetrators were also more likely to have symbiotic relationships with their children compared to nonsuicidal perpetrators of filicide. In addition filicide-parasuicides were more likely to be premeditated compared with other filicides. These findings have implications for the treatment of suicidal parents and marital counseling in which partners have vengeful attitudes toward one another. This study examined relevant factors in 128 filicide cases in the Netherlands, 30 of which involved the failed suicide of the perpetrator. Cases were deemed parasuicides if factors that were not under the perpetrator's control prevented the suicide from being successful. 1 table and 29 references