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Maternal infanticide, or the murder of a child in its first year of life by its mother, elicits sorrow, anger, horror, and outrage. But the perpetrator is often a victim, too.
The editor of this revealing
work asks us to reach beyond rage, stretch the limits of compassion, and
enter the minds of mothers who kill their babies—with the hope that
advancing the knowledge base and stimulating inquiry in this neglected area
of maternal-infant research will save young lives.
Written to help remedy today's dearth of up-to-date, research-based
literature, this unique volume brings together a multidisciplinary group of
17 experts—scholars, clinicians, researchers, clinical and forensic
psychiatrists, pediatric psychoanalysts, attorneys, and an
epidemiologist—who focus on the psychiatric perspective of this tragic cause
of infant death.
This comprehensive, practical work is organized into
four parts for easy reference:
• Part I presents historical and epidemiological data, including a
compelling discussion of the contrasting legal views of infanticide in the
United States, United Kingdom, and other Western countries, a review of the
latest statistics on maternal infanticide, and a discussion of the problems
of underreporting and the lack of available documentation.
• Part II
covers the psychiatric, psychological, cultural, and biological
underpinnings of infanticide, detailing how to identify, evaluate, and treat
postpartum psychiatric disorders. The authors explore clinical diagnosis,
symptom recognition, risk factors, biological precipitants, and alternative
motives, such as cultural infanticide. Chapter 3, developed to assist the
attorney or mental health professional in understanding the implications of
postpartum psychiatric illness as they relate to infanticide, presents a
sensitive and thorough inquiry into infanticidal ideation.
• Part III
focuses on contemporary legislation, criminal defenses, and disparate
treatment in U.S. law and compares U.S. law with the U.K.'s model of
probation and treatment. Chapter 8 is an especially useful resource for the
attorney or expert psychiatric witness preparing for an
infanticide/neonaticide case in the criminal court system.
• Part IV
discusses clinical experience with mothers as perpetrators and
countertransference in therapy, the range of mother-infant interactions
(from healthy to pathological), and methods of early intervention and
prevention.
This balanced perspective on a highly emotional issue will find a wide audience among psychiatric and medical professionals (child, clinical, and forensic psychiatrists and psychologists; social workers; obstetricians/gynecologists and midwives; nurses; and pediatricians), legal professionals (judges, attorneys, law students), public health professionals, and interested laypersons.
Margaret Spinelli has gathered a group of experts to examine the subject of maternal infanticide from biologic, psychosocial, legal, and cultural perspectives. Her book handles the material sensitively, with an eye toward prevention. It also serves as a compendium of knowledge to aid mental health providers in diagnosing and treating psychiatric disorders related to infanticide, while assisting experts involved in the legal defense of women charged with the crime. . . . Because so many personal and societal taboos must be overcome in order to kill one's own child, this central question begs for an answer: What is it about the biological and psychosocial factors that lead these women to cross the boundary from violent impulse to action? In the end, however, this excellent book leaves the readers well equipped to ponder this question themselves.
— Jennifer L. Kunst, Ph.D.
[I]t is truly outstanding, a must read for clinicians in both psychiatry and obstetrics, as well as forensic psychiatrists, criminal defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges. What sets this text apart is that it goes well beyond a discussion of the phenomenon of infanticide to formulation of plans of prevention and management for at-risk mothers and children, making this a useful resource for anyone involved in the mental health of mothers and their young children.
— Keith A. Caruso, M.D.
This new book is essential reading for any lawyer handling an infanticide case. This volume is the first book to cross the line between the mental health professional and the lawyer on this subject. It is easy for the lawyer to read, has loads of references for further research and most importantly lets you know who to contact to continue the educational process. Its hard to believe that a lawyer could be considered competent to handle one of these cases without the information in Dr. Spinelli's new book.
— Michael G. Dowd, Criminal Defense Attorney
We do recommend this book to clinicians treating women of childbearing age and to attorneys seeking to increase their knowledge about perinatal mental illnesses.
— Phillip J. Resnick, M.D., and Susan Hatters-Friedman, M.D.
This excellent work should be a valuable tool for
psychiatric and medical professionals, legal professionals, public health
professionals, and interested laypersons.
I would highly recommend it to
all. As for me, I am going to keep this book with me, because as a forensic
pathologist, I have to deal with infanticide cases almost on a daily basis,
and now I know where to fall back upon, when I am stuck.
Margaret G. Spinelli, M.D., is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of the Maternal Mental Health Program at New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York, New York.
Contributors
Introduction
Acknowledgments
Part
I: Epidemiology and Historical Legal Statutes
Chapter 1. A Brief History
of Infanticide and the Law
Chapter 2. Epidemiology of
Infanticide
Part II: Biopsychosocial and Cultural Perspectives on
Infanticide
Chapter 3. Postpartum Disorders: Phenomenology, Treatment
Approaches, and Relationship to Infanticide
Chapter 4. Neurohormonal
Aspects of Postpartum Depression and Psychosis
Chapter 5. Denial of
Pregnancy
Chapter 6. Neonaticide: A Systematic Investigation of 17
Cases
Chapter 7. Culture, Scarcity, and Maternal Thinking
Part III:
Contemporary Legislation
Chapter 8. Criminal Defense in Cases of
Infanticide and Neonaticide
Chapter 9. Medical and Legal Dilemmas of
Postpartum Psychiatric Disorders
Chapter 10. Infanticide in
Britain
Part IV: Treatment and Prevention
Chapter 11. How Could
Anyone Do That?: A Therapist's Struggle With Countertransference
Chapter
12. The Mother-Infant Relationship: From Normality to Pathology
Chapter
13. The Promise of Saved Lives: Recognition, Prevention, and
Rehabilitation
Index