Maternal Filicide: The Negative Life Events and Mental Health of a Sample of Incarcerated Offenders

• In Event: Family Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Despite the severity of the offense and the media attention surrounding these types of crimes, there is little scholarly information on maternal filicide. The purpose of this study was to examine the mental health and pre-incarceration negative life events of women incarcerated for filicide. Two comparison groups were included in the analysis: men who were incarcerated for the murder of their child or stepchild and women who were incarcerated for killing someone other than their child or stepchild. Data were extracted and merged from the 1997 and 2004 versions of the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Facilities, a national level dataset, collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and available on ICPSR. Results indicate important areas of difference between women incarcerated for filicide as compared to the reference groups.

Authors

• Margaret E Leigey, The College of New Jersey

• Margarita Poteyeva, James Madison University