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Thesis (MA (Psychology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Maternal filicide, the murder of a child by its mother, is a complex phenomenon with various causes and characteristics. Research, by means of the development of several classification systems and in identifying particular risk factors, has been conducted with the aim of better prevention of this emotionally evocative crime. Various disciplines have offered a wide range of perspectives on why women kill their biological children. These are intended to yield a better understanding of the aetiology of this crime. This literature review delineates three dominant perspectives: psychiatric, psychological, and sociological. The main findings of each perspective are discussed. However, these three perspectives frequently operate in conjunction with each other in that both intrapsychic and interpersonal dynamics play a role in acts of maternal filicide. The most vulnerable women appear to be those who have had a severely deficient developmental history (trauma and/or grossly inadequate parenting), those who experience current difficult psychosocial circumstances, and those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric illness. However, not all women who experience such problems kill their children. In this regard, individual differences have an important role to play and more carefully delineated future research is suggested. One of the most significant findings of this literature review is that there appears to be a paucity of systematic research on the South African phenomenon of parental child homicide. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Moedermoord, die moord van ’n kind deur sy of haar moeder, is ’n komplekse verskynsel met verskeie oorsake en karaktereienskappe. Navorsing deur die ontwikkeling van verskeie klassifikasiestelsels en die identifisering van spesifieke risikofaktore is uitgevoer met die doel om hierdie misdaad, wat soveel emosies ontlok, beter te voorkom. Verskeie dissiplines bied ’n wye verskeidenheid perspektiewe oor die redes waarom vroue hul biologiese kinders vermoor. Die doel van hierdie perspektiewe is om ’n beter etiologiese begrip van hierdie vorm van misdaad te verkry. Die literatuurstudie dui drie dominante perspektiewe aan: psigiatries, psigologies en sosiologies. Die hoofbevindinge van elke perspektief word bespreek. Hierdie drie perspektiewe werk dikwels saam aangesien sowel intrapsigiese en interpersoonlike dinamiek ’n rol in moedermoorddade speel. Die kwesbaarste vroue blyk dié te wees met ’n ernstig gebrekkige ontwikkelingsgeskiedenis (trauma en/of ernstig onvoldoende ouerskap), diegene wat hulle in moeilike psigososiale omstandighede bevind, en dié wat met ’n psigiatriese siekte gediagnoseer is. Nie alle vroue wat hierdie probleme ervaar, vermoor egter hulle kinders nie. In hierdie opsig speel individuele verskille ’n belangrike rol en word versigtig afgebakende toekomstige navorsing voorgestel. Een van die belangrikste bevindinge van hierdie literatuuroorsig is dat daar ’n gebrek aan sistematiese navorsing oor die Suid-Afrikaanse verskynsel van kindermoord deur ouers blyk te wees.

published_or_final_version / Pathology / Master / Master of Philosophy

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Does the murder of a sibling affect the health and well-being of siblings over the longer term? Between 2009 and 2013 there was an annual average of 562 homicides in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2013) and 14,767 in the United States (FBI, 2013). Anecdotal report and a small body of literature suggest siblings’ lives are impacted by the murder of a sister or brother and that there are lasting effects. For the most part, however, siblings of murder victims are largely ignored by research. Studies that do exist rely mainly on qualitative data from small, non-representative, and mixed samples. This study used a quasi-experimental design to compare data previously obtained from 67 Canadian and American homicide-bereaved siblings with data from 80 comparison participants, matched as a group on age and sex. Groups were compared on measures of SES, overall general health, subjective distress, perceived social support, life-satisfaction, recollections of growing up, and self-worth. Homicide-bereaved siblings reported significantly higher levels of current subjective distress, less perceived social support, and less positive recollections of growing up in the years following a sibling’s muder. Despite ongoing subjective distress, homicide-bereaved siblings reported self-worth and life satisfaction equivalent to comparison participants. Preliminary data support the continued theoretical and applied research exploring the overlap of trauma and grief in homicide bereavement and of intervention protocols. Findings from this study will inform criminal justice professionals, victim service workers, counsellors, family members, friends, and community members supporting those who have lost a brother or sister to murder. / Graduate / kwright3@uvic.ca

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

New Orleans has had a consistently high homicide rate for around twenty years, but limited research has committed to discovering a successful solution to the pre- and post-Katrina crime problem. Prior research has been conducted to analyze whether the Southern “culture of violence,” poverty, income inequality, unemployment, gun ownership and legislation, gangs, and residential segregation affect homicide, but no study applies these factors to New Orleans. Using a case study analysis that applies these variables studied in prior research to New Orleans and information acquired from the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports, correlations are made between homicide in New Orleans and poverty, income inequality, and residential segregation. Implications show that homicide is affected by multiple factors. All of these factors should be analyzed when homicide is the focus of the research because homicide is not a result of one or two variables.

New Orleans experienced elevated homicide rates throughout the 30 years between 1985 and 2015. The city’s homicides were especially prominent in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. This study explored the lived experiences of residents from one such neighborhood, Hollygrove. Using qualitative methods of individual interviews, focus groups, and participant observation, the study explored homicide through three prominent theoretical lenses, Social Disorganization Theory, Subcultural theories, and Institutional Anomie Theory, to better understand the conditions in a high-homicide neighborhood that help to explain neighborhood-level violence. While existing theories of homicide causation have taken a predominately quantitative approach that compare high-homicide neighborhoods, I took an ethnographic approach informed by a social constructivist paradigm to test existing theories against the lived experiences of those whose daily lives were impacted by neighborhood-level homicide in a single community. Interviews were conducted with neighborhood residents, community leaders, neighborhood politicians, and police officials. The data indicated three conditions connected to high- or low-homicide risk in the community. The neighborhood’s values-orientation moved between subcultural values and prosocial values. Structural conditions in the community shifted between marginalization and enhanced social capital. Finally, neighborhood boundaries were found to vacillate between porous and rigidly defensive. Each of these conditions impacted the neighborhood’s ability to enact collective efficacy and to create a milieu that either resisted or enhanced the likelihood of homicide. While none of the existing theories was sufficient to explain neighborhood homicide, elements of each were present in the data.

The killing of parents and stepparents by biological and stepchildren is a rare event. Incidents involving multiple parricide victims and/or multiple parricide offenders are an even rarer occurrence. The majority of studies on parricide involve a single victim and single offender. Using the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), this study identified 603 single-victim, single-offender incidents, 22 single-victim, multiple-offender incidents, 60 single-offender double parricide incidents, 17 multiple-offender double parricide incidents, and 15 familicide incidents over the 20 year period 1990 to 2010. Univariate and bivariate analyses examined parricidal incidents involving single or multiple offenders and single or multiple victims with the aim of investigating juvenile and adult involvement in double parricide and familicide. Frequencies reported include victim, offender, and incident characteristics for all types of parricide incidents. Consistent with prior research on single-victim, single-offender parricide, the results indicated that the typical parricide offender was a white male approximately 30 years of age. A firearm predominated as the weapon of choice for all parricide incidents; however, when a biological mother was one of the victims, the offender(s) used more diverse methods. When multiple offenders were involved in double parricides, however, the offenders tended to be younger and were more likely to include a female accomplice. Only one case of familicide involved a female offender, and none of the familicide incidents involved multiple offenders. Study limitations and implications for prevention are also discussed.

Modernization theorists posit that rapid economic development can produce increased rates of homicide (Durkheim 1951 [1897]; 1984 [1902]; 1997 [1893]; Shelley 1981). As nations develop, individuals migrate to regions that have greater opportunities for employment. Here, they may experience conflicting norms, a lack of adequate housing and education, and possible underemployment. While modernization theory has been tested extensively, it has not accounted for the way in which nations currently develop. Many nations are recipients of inward foreign direct investment. This form of investment, by multi-national corporations, has produced economic growth, inequality, and urbanization in many countries (Bengoa and Sanchez-Robles 2003; Blomström et al. 1994; Campos and Kinoshita 2002; Sit and Yang 1997). These correlates, economic growth, inequality, and urbanization, have all been linked to homicide (Cole and Gramajo 2009; Nivette 2011). In an examination of up to 62 nations, inward foreign direct investment is found to promote urbanization and inequality. In separate analyses, urbanization is found to increase homicide - suggesting that foreign investment produces homicide by increasing urbanization. Several scholars have suggested that a strong civil society can mitigate societal ills (Currie 1997; Messner and Rosenfeld 1997). Analyses show that a strong civil society, represented by the presence of international-non-governmental organizations, is associated with decreased rates of homicide. The results suggest that nations should be cautious when receiving foreign investment. City infrastructure should be monitored to keep up with the needs of a rapidly growing population. International organizations that deal with issues of rapid growth, including those that provide access to housing and education and those that work at reducing inequality and poverty, should be sought after.