Filicide-suicide in Chicago, 1870-1930.
Filicide (the killing of a child by a parent) followed by the offender's suicide is a tragic but, fortunately, rare event. The contexts and circumstances surrounding filicide-suicide may provide insight into parental psychology. The authors test several hypotheses about filicide-suicide using a database including incident-level information on 11,018 Chicago homicides during 1870-1930. The results provide some support for the hypothesis of differential risk of suicide following filicide by genetic parents and stepparents and replicate previous research indicating that filicides with multiple victims are more likely to end in the offender's suicide than are filicides with a single victim; parents are more likely to commit suicide following the filicide of an older child than of a younger child; and older parents, relative to younger parents, are more likely to commit suicide following filicide. The discussion situates these results within the existing literature and highlights important directions for future research.
Shackelford
Todd K
TK
Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Davie, FL 33314, USA. tshackel@fau.edu
Weekes-Shackelford
Viviana A
VA
Beasley
Shanna L
SL
D002641:Chicago; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000266:history*; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006708:Homicide / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007237:Infanticide / Q000266:history; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000266:history; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D013405:Suicide / Q000266:history*