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An exploratory analysis of the contexts and circumstances of filicide‐suicide in Chicago, 1965–1994
Author(s) -
Shackelford Todd K.,
WeekesShackelford Viviana A.,
Beasley Shanna L.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/ab.20085
Subject(s) - poison control , suicide prevention , human factors and ergonomics , injury prevention , medical emergency , occupational safety and health , criminology , psychology , engineering , exploratory analysis , forensic engineering , medicine , computer science , data science , pathology
Filicide is the killing of a ward by a parent. Relative to many other types of homicide, filicide is an infrequent event. Filicide followed by the offender's suicide is less frequent still. The contexts and circumstances surrounding filicide‐suicide may nevertheless provide insight into parental psychology. Some research suggests, for example, that filicidal genetic parents are more likely to commit suicide than are filicidal stepparents. Five hypotheses are tested for this study, using a database that includes incident‐level information on over 22,000 homicides committed in Chicago during the years 1965–1994. Findings do not support the hypothesis of differential risk of suicide following filicide by genetic parents and stepparents. Previous work is replicated, indicating that: (1) filicides that include multiple victims are more likely to end in the offender's suicide than are filicides that include a single victim, (2) parents are more likely to commit suicide following a filicide of an older child than a filicide of a younger child, (3) older parents, relative to younger parents, are more likely to commit suicide following filicide, and that (4) fathers, relative to mothers, are more likely to commit suicide following filicide. Discussion suggests future directions for research that can inform our understanding of filicide and of filicide‐suicide. Aggr. Behav. 00:000–000, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.