title: Child murder by parents and evolutionary psychology.
abstract: This article explores the contribution of evolutionary theory to the understanding of causation and motive in filicide cases and also reviews special issues in the forensic evaluation of alleged perpetrators of filicide. Evolutionary social psychology seeks to understand the context in which our brains evolved, to understand human behaviors. The authors propose evolutionary theory as a framework theory to meaningfully appreciate research about filicide. Using evolutionary psychology as a theoretical lens, this article reviews the research on filicide over the past 40 years, and describes epidemiologic and typologic studies of filicide, and theoretical analyses from a range of disciplines.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Connections Mental Health Center, 24200 Chagrin Boulevard, Beachwood, OH 44122, USA. susanhfmd@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Susan Hatters
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cavney
authors.forename: Phillip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Resnick
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D006708:Homicide / Q000145:classification / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007237:Infanticide / Q000145:classification / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D009042:Motivation; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011582:Psychological Theory