Just read an interesting article... Filicide in the United States:
Filicide in the United States
"EPIDEMIOLOGY
The United States has the highest rate of child murder among developed nations. The most common perpetrator of child homicide is a parent.
...Ninety percent of filicide perpetrators are biological parents and 10% are stepparents. Stepparents are far more likely to kill children than biological parents. In the “child maltreatment” homicides, fatal child abuse in stepparents is up to 100 times higher (Daly and Wilson, 1994)....
Paramours rarely kill their own children; instead, they more often kill the sons of their predecessors (Kaplun and Reich, 1976)....
METHODS OF FILICIDE
The most common methods of infanticide are battering, smothering, strangling, and drowning (Lewis and Resnick, 1999). The method of killing is related to the age of the victim (Adinkrah, 2001). Homicide of infants and young children is typically committed with personal weapons (e.g., hands, feet) and rarely involves firearms, knives, and other dangerous weapons. Conversely, older children are killed with knives, firearms, and other lethal weapons. Fathers tend to use more violent methods such as striking, squeezing, or stabbing whereas mothers more often drowned, suffocated, or gassed their victims (Resnick, 1969; Marleau
et al., 1999).....
“Child maltreatment” filicide
These homicides usually result from a fatal “battered child syndrome” (Kempe,
et al., 1962). The violent outbursts often occur in the overzealous application of discipline. Persistent crying is a common precipitant (Kadushin and Martin, 1981). This is the only one of the five filicide categories, in which the death is not intended by the parent.
“Spouse revenge” filicide
This final category consists of parents who kill their offspring in a deliberate attempt to make their spouses suffer. The prototype is found in Euripides’ play, Medea. After killing their two sons, Medea told her unfaithful husband, Jason, “Thy sons are dead and gone. That will stab thy heart” (Oates and O’Neill, 1938). The most common precipitants for spouse revenge filicide are spousal infidelity and child custody disputes. "
