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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this article by Mackay was to discover more information and insights about the Infanticide Act of 1938, which stated that in cases where the mother by any willful act or omission causes the death of her child under the age of 12 months permitted a charge of and conviction of infanticide instead of murder.
METHODOLOGY:
This study was quasi-experimental. Permission was obtained from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to examine the files of 36 females who had killed one of their children under the age of 12 months during the years 1982 to 1985. In addition, the files in a further 11 cases were made available. These cases consisted of three females who had killed one of their children over the age of 12 months, one female who had killed another person's child and seven males who had each killed very young children, two of whom were other people's children. It was hoped that an examination of these additional files might produce more information on the consequences of killing very young children.
In four of the cases the female who gave birth to the child was assisted by a male partner or by members of her family to conceal the birth and in one case the male partner was primarily responsible for the death. However, in the vast majority of the sample cases the mother was acting alone when the child died.
A sample of 47 cases were picked by the CPS on the basis of availability. Although they do not cover the totality of infanticide convictions during the period in question they nevertheless represent a broad range of cases in the sense that they include some prima facie cases of infanticide which were not pursued within the courts.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Suffocation, battering, and strangulation were the most frequently used methods in terms of killing ones infant. Seventeen convictions led to probation. Twelve of these cases were infanticide convictions. The only other infanticide convictions which were recorded involved which resulted in hospital orders. In regard to the four cases in which the results were unknown, each of these was left to local police or prosecutors to resolve along with a recommendation from The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in favor of infanticide.
In comparison, all the males avoided a murder conviction. It was noticeable, however, that of the six convictions for manslaughter which resulted in sentences of imprisonment all but one were males, receiving on average 4.75 years, with the other male receiving a hospital order with restrictions.
This study noted that the 1938 Infanticide Act offered the woman two advantages over diminished responsibility. The first was that it permitted the prosecution to charge infanticide rather than proceed with murder and the second was that by so doing the prosecution conceded the mental disturbance which the woman would not have to prove.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author recommended that if women continued to receive lenient sentences under the 1938 Act, there would be a need for a separate offense of infanticide. It was suggested that clause 64 of the Draft Criminal Code Bill would be an appropriate vehicle in order to secure this.
(CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Infant Victim
KW - Infant Homicide
KW - Infanticide
KW - Mother Offender
KW - Parent Offender
KW - Female Offender
KW - Female Violence
KW - Domestic Homicide
KW - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Offender
KW - Child Abuse Effects
KW - Child Abuse Homicide
KW - Child Abuse Offender
KW - Homicide Effects
KW - Homicide Offender
KW - Case Studies
KW - 1980s
KW - Criminal Justice System
KW - Adult Female
KW - Adult Mother
KW - Adult Parent
KW - Adult Offender
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Offender Punishment
KW - Offender Treatment |