The present research conducted a rich discourse analysis of an episode of the fictional television crime drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as a content analysis of local and national news transcripts focusing on the representation of mothers who commit neonaticide. Both fictional and non-fictional media sources exhibited aspects of the monstrous maternal theme and the strain defense theme. The monstrous maternal theme consists of words and statements that indicate the descriptions of crime committed against the newborn as well as negative responses and reactions by others to the young mother and her crime. The strain defense theme refers to instances that discuss the internal and external strains of the young woman that may have contributed to her committing neonaticide. However, the "monstrous maternal" is the prevailing representation of mothers who commit neonaticide in both fictional and non-fictional media sources. This media representation utilizes "control talk" to separate "us" the good mothers, who abide by the cultural expectations of traditional gender roles and embrace the internal and external strains of motherhood, from "them" the criminal mothers, who fail to adhere to these role expectations of motherhood by committing neonaticide. The present research reveals that cultural stories and scripts of the monstrous maternal still exist. This contemporary folklore may serve as a form of social control to scare women into conforming to these traditional gender roles and bearing the burden of the motherhood strains, in order to avoid being branded a bad mother. Finally, the present research develops the application of General Strain Theory to explain the internal and external strains of a young woman that may contribute to her committing the criminal act of maternal neonaticide. These media representations of maternal neonaticide could impact the criminal justice system and public policy. Questions of accuracy, gendered understandings of crime and gendered understanding of appropriate punishment are areas the present research explores. Most importantly, the present research seeks to investigate the connection between legal culture in both media and professional practice - and what those connections mean for our general cultural understandings of violence and aggression in women.

The present research conducted a rich discourse analysis of an episode of the fictional television crime drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as a content analysis of local and national news transcripts focusing on the representation of mothers who commit neonaticide. Both fictional and non-fictional media sources exhibited aspects of the monstrous maternal theme and the strain defense theme. The monstrous maternal theme consists of words and statements that indicate the descriptions of crime committed against the newborn as well as negative responses and reactions by others to the young mother and her crime. The strain defense theme refers to instances that discuss the internal and external strains of the young woman that may have contributed to her committing neonaticide. However, the "monstrous maternal" is the prevailing representation of mothers who commit neonaticide in both fictional and non-fictional media sources. This media representation utilizes "control talk" to separate "us" the good mothers, who abide by the cultural expectations of traditional gender roles and embrace the internal and external strains of motherhood, from "them" the criminal mothers, who fail to adhere to these role expectations of motherhood by committing neonaticide. The present research reveals that cultural stories and scripts of the monstrous maternal still exist. This contemporary folklore may serve as a form of social control to scare women into conforming to these traditional gender roles and bearing the burden of the motherhood strains, in order to avoid being branded a bad mother. Finally, the present research develops the application of General Strain Theory to explain the internal and external strains of a young woman that may contribute to her committing the criminal act of maternal neonaticide. These media representations of maternal neonaticide could impact the criminal justice system and public policy. Questions of accuracy, gendered understandings of crime and gendered understanding of appropriate punishment are areas the present research explores. Most importantly, the present research seeks to investigate the connection between legal culture in both media and professional practice - and what those connections mean for our general cultural understandings of violence and aggression in women.

This thesis explores the discovery, investigation and prosecution of, as well as the men and women involved as suspects and witnesses in, cases of suspected new-born child murder and concealment of pregnancy in Scotland between 1812 and 1930. The study utilises pre-trial and other legal documents relating to these cases to outline both the continuities with other studies and aspects of the subject that are peculiar to Scotland during the period. An examination of the pre-trial documents not only reveals the various responses to suspicions of pregnancy and murder by the local community, it also shows that in a number of cases investigators harboured suspicions that members of the community were involved, either as an accessory to a crime, or withholding evidence. However, this information is largely ignored by prosecutors, and the vast majority of those tried were the victims’ mothers, an outcome that this thesis argues was a combination of a number of legal and medico-legal processes and procedures. This thesis also argues that the information provided by the pre-trial evidence can provide a more nuanced understanding of these ‘crimes’ – particularly at a local level – that is otherwise obscured by official statistics, that in turn can be used to challenge the prevailing historical consensus that has developed around certain aspects of the subject. The first chapter provides the legal and medico-legal contexts. Chapters Two and Three look at the discovery of, and responses to, the signs of pregnancy, recent delivery and of the bodies of new-born infants. Chapter Three argues that whilst communities were quick to observe the signs of pregnancy, they were less inclined to inform the authorities of their suspicions until after the signs of delivery, or a body, had been discovered. Chapter 4 looks at the profiles of suspects, and also at the geography of the ‘crimes’, and Chapter 5 looks at those men and women suspected of being an accessory to murder, and of helping to conceal a pregnancy or an infant’s death. This chapter reveals that the pretrial documents reveal that in a number of cases investigators suspected relatives, friends, the victims’ fathers, and in some cases even doctors and midwives, to be involved in various ways in cases of suspected new-born child murder. As such it provides a strong challenge to the historiographical consensus that new-born child murder was a sex-specific crime, carried out by the victim’s mother, acting alone. Chapters 6 and 7 explore the role of the police and medical witnesses respectively, both prior to a formal accusation, and during the official investigation. Chapter 7 also includes a detailed look at the medical reports pertaining to the examination of suspects and the post mortem examination of the victims. The final chapter looks at the witnesses and evidence presented at the trial, focusing in particular on the medico-legal issues that made it difficult for prosecutors to secure a successful murder conviction. The chapter argues that whilst these issues could be part of a wider culture of sympathy towards new-born child murder suspects, the evidence from the verdicts and sentencing can also demonstrate a hardening of judicial attitudes over the period.

The current study examines county-level characteristics and their impact on child homicide. This work uses Durkheimian theory and tests the concept of solidarity by using variables that constitute integration and regulation. In addition, some variables are drawn from other theoretical perspectives, mainly social disorganization and anomie theories, to better explore additional macro-level indicators. Data were obtained from multiple locations. Homicide data for children, from birth through five years, utilized in this work came from the National Incident-Based Reporting System. County level socio-demographics were obtained from the Census. Political party affiliation (Republican or Democrat) came from Politico, and religious data were collected by InfoGroup and organized into groups by the Association of Religion Data Archives. This study aims to increase our understanding of how macro-level contextual and situational factors may help guide policy makers, law enforcement personnel, and any other individuals who are concerned with areas where there are varying degrees of risk for child homicide

English Abstract This diploma thesis consists of nine chapters and focuses on the criminal law aspects of the crime - the murder of a newborn baby caused by mother. The first chapter contains an introduction to the topic, mainly the brief historical excursion and analysis of current legislation. The next chapter is devoted to the general discussion of the privileged state of facts. The following passage of my thesis deals with the characteristics of state of facts of newborn's murder crime. The characteristics specifically are: a subject, a subjective aspect, an object and an objective aspect. In the chapter about the subjective aspect (the psychological state of the mother character as a type of crime) I devote more attention to the theme of crime and the problematic term "distress after birth." I'm trying to define the duration of the distress caused by childbirth. In the chapter about the object of the crime, called Newborn's life as the object of a criminal offense, I mainly devote to the material object of an attack. I try to present the different views on the problems of determination of the human's life beginning. The sixth chapter (called Newborn's death as a result of mother's treatment) deals with various ways of murderous treatments, which are supplemented by the casuistry. In this section I also...

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2007 / Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Social Work. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-77).

abstract: Filicide, the killing of a child by a parent, is the focus of this meta-study. In the United States, the total number of nonaccidental deaths of children at the hands of a parent is unknown. Five children a day under the age of five die from fatal abuse and neglect (U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1995). This number is a conservative estimate and does not include children kill by means other than abuse and neglect. Regardless of the number, this author views each filicide as a sentinel event for the United States and the world. A sentinel event is an unexpected occurrence involving death and signals the need for immediate investigation and response. The perspectives of social constructionism and role theory frame this meta-study. The author explored six questions of the extant filicide research: What is the research knowledge on filicide? How is filicide constructed in the research discourse and what is the context of this research? Is filicide constructed as a social problem? Can the use of role theory advance our understanding of filicide? Are there common themes in the filicide research findings? Is there disagreement in the research? What is missing, assumed, or overlooked in the research? The sample consisted of 66 international studies of parents (i.e., genetic, step, foster, person in role of parent) who killed their child(ren) from 1969 to 2009. Major findings include "meta-categories" of filicide research, risk factors, salient themes, and new conceptualization of filicide based on role theory. Individual, social, and structural variables to identify and prevent filicide are presented. An outline for educating practitioners and a tool for screening families for filicide risk are offered / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Social Work 2011

For decades there has been growing interest into the crime of child murders. Emphasis was placed on victims and those at risk. Not much focus was placed on perpetrators and their families. Evidence suggests that the family and social systems play a vital role in determining adult violent behaviour. This qualitative study aims to explore the experiences of convicted child murderers in their family and social system. Data was collected and analysed, using genogram interviews and analysis. Themes were highlighted using hermeneutic thematic analysis, within a post-modern paradigm. Results were presented in the form of genogram analysis and thematic content analysis. Prominent themes that arose were separation, rejection, abuse, neglect and substance abuse. These life experiences together with poor education are some of the characteristics that may have contributed to the child murderers actions towards children. / Psychology / M. A. (Clinical Psychology)

In der zimbawischen Literatur sind die Themen Nation, Körper, Gewalt, Sprache und Erinnerung aufs engste miteinander verbunden. Durch den Einfluß von Yvonne Vera hat sich in den 90er Jahren das Bild des weiblichen Körpers und insbesondere die Diskussion um koloniale und postkoloniale Gewalt deutlich verändert. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit geht es um die Frage nach Nation. Unterschiedliche Darstellungen von Nehanda und den Kämpferinnen des 2. Chimurenga werden näher beleuchtet. Außerdem geht es um Veras "pastoral novel" in der sie von einer weißen Farmersfrau erzählt. Im zweiten Teil geht es um die Körperkonzepte in der zimbabwischen Literatur. Gewalt in der Familie und vor allem der weibliche Körper als Schlachtfeld steht hier im Mittelpunkt. Die Vergewaltigte und die Prostituierte sind auch weiterhin Symbole für den kolonisierten afrikanischen Kontinent. Vera versucht diese Frauen aus einer anderen Perspektive zu betrachten. Bei ihr geht es um die Erfahrung der Frauen selbst. Der dritte Teil der Arbeit befasst sich schließlich mit der Frage nach der Darstellbarkeit von Gewalt. Wie ist es möglich von Gewalt zu erzählen, ohne die Gewalt zu reproduzieren? Vera beantwortet diese Frage mit der Reflexion über des Erzählen. Bei ihr wirkt Sprache heilend. / In Zimbabwean literature, the themes of nation, body, violence, language, and memory are closely connected. The dissertation analyses, how the treatment of these themes changed significantly during the 1990s. The focus lies on Yvonne Vera's work and its influence on the image of the female body and the debate about colonial as well as postcolonial violence. The first part deals with the question of nation at the example of various narratives about Nehanda and other female freedom fighters in the Second Chimurenga. Further material is drawn from Vera's "pastural novel", in which she tells about a white settler woman. The second part looks at body concepts in Zimbabwean literature. Special attention is paid to domestic violence and the image of the female body as battlefield. The raped woman and the prostitute are still widely used as symbols for the colonized African continent. Vera tries to break with this tradition by looking at such female characters from the perspective of their own experiences. The third part, finally, raises the issue of the representation of violence. How is possible to write about violence without reproducing it? Vera answers this question by reflecting about narration. Language thus works as a healing power in her texts.

For decades there has been growing interest into the crime of child murders. Emphasis was placed on victims and those at risk. Not much focus was placed on perpetrators and their families. Evidence suggests that the family and social systems play a vital role in determining adult violent behaviour. This qualitative study aims to explore the experiences of convicted child murderers in their family and social system. Data was collected and analysed, using genogram interviews and analysis. Themes were highlighted using hermeneutic thematic analysis, within a post-modern paradigm. Results were presented in the form of genogram analysis and thematic content analysis. Prominent themes that arose were separation, rejection, abuse, neglect and substance abuse. These life experiences together with poor education are some of the characteristics that may have contributed to the child murderers actions towards children. / Psychology / M. A. (Clinical Psychology)