NCJ Number
171004
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 22 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1998) Pages: 91-101
Date Published
1998
Length
11 pages
Annotation
A multidisciplinary approach was used to identify and examine variables related to victims, perpetrators, families, and incidents in 32 substantiated cases of infanticide due to family maltreatment occurring in the United States Air Force during 1989-95; the research also sought to determine factors that might be used to prevent infanticide.
Abstract
Data came from investigative, birth, medical, autopsy, and Air Force Family Advocacy Program records. The records were independently reviewed for 58 criteria; interrater reliability was 96 percent. The average age of the infant victims was 4.9 months. Although 35 percent of the physicians' reports about the infant victims noted colic, only 10 percent of the mothers and 13 percent of the parent perpetrators reported that their infants were colicky. Fifty-five percent of the infant victims had physical trauma before the fatal incident, indicating physical abuse. At death, the infants' weights were in the 36th percentile and their lengths were in the 39th percentiles in comparison to normal infants the same age. Twenty-three percent of the caretaker-perpetrators had a history of abuse in childhood. Eighty-four percent of the perpetrators were male, 77 percent were the victims' biological fathers, and 54 percent were first-time parents. The families were typically composed of a married young mother aged 23.3 years and father aged 24.3 years, with 1 or 2 children. The incidents involved the infant victim crying (58 percent) and alone with the caretaker-perpetrator (86 percent) on the weekend (47 percent) at around noon in the home (71 percent). Findings indicated several factors related to infanticide and suggested that awareness of these factors may help prevent infanticide. Table, figure, and 32 references (Author abstract modified)