Abstract
Maternal filicide cases run counter to deeply ingrained views of motherhood and femininity; however, child homicide by mothers has not always been considered a crime worthy of a murder charge (Dobson and Sales in Psychol Public Policy Law 6:1098–1112, 2000).
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Notes
- 1.
Filicide dates back to ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, and among the Vikings, Irish Celts, Gauls, and Phoenicians (Meyer et al. 2001).
- 2.
Puerperal (postpartum) psychosis is an abrupt onset of severe psychiatric disturbance that occurs shortly following birth. It is estimated to occur in 1–4 women per 1,000 deliveries. Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, loss of reality, illogical thoughts and behavior, and possible suicidal or homicidal tendencies (Chaudron and Pies 2003; Schwartz and Isser 2006).
- 3.
These countries included Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UK (Friedman and Resnick 2007).
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Shelton, J.L.E., Hoffer, T.A., Muirhead, Y.E. (2015). Precedent for Leniency. In: Behavioral Analysis of Maternal Filicide. SpringerBriefs in Psychology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08150-2_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08150-2_2
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