Original Research
Filicidal Women: Jail or Psychiatric Ward?
Line Laporte, MSc1, Bernard Poulin, MPs2, Jacques Marleau, PhD3, Renée Roy, MD4, Thierry Webanck, MSc5
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Objective: This study aims to examine the legal procedure that women who are charged with killing their children experience and to compare the variables that discriminate between those found guilty and those who received a medical disposition.
Method: The sample comprises 32 adult women who killed their biological children in the province of Quebec over an 11-year period (1981 to 1991).
Results: Of the sample, 18 women were found guilty, and 14 received a medical disposition. Of those who were the object of a penal disposition, most received a sentence that exceeded 2 years. Women who were sentenced to prison had a lower socioeconomic status and, compared with those who received a medical disposition, were more likely to have had a criminal and substance abuse history. Further, this latter subgroup of women were more likely to have a psychiatric history, to suffer from psychotic symptoms, and to become oriented to the mental health system immediately after their offence.
Conclusions: These comparative results suggest that women’s profiles differ according to some descriptive variables. From a clinical point of view, however, these results do not suggest that a different approach with respect to treatment of filicidal women or prevention of filicide would be more appropriate.
(Can J Psychiatry 2003;48:94–98)
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Clinical Implications
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The sample included most of the population; thus, generalization is possible.
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Two different subgroups one judicially oriented and the other medically oriented, were compared to verify whether the generally assumed bias about the medically oriented samples is important.
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These results do not suggest that a different approach with respect to preventing filicide would be more appropriate.
Limitations
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This study was based on a small sample.
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There were no measures of variables relative to judicial process. These variables could play a role with respect to the outcome of the judicial process.
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Several psychiatrists carried out the psychiatric assessment. Hence, their personal bias may have affected the outcome of the judicial process.
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Key Words: infanticide, filicide, charge, verdict, sentence, women
Résumé : Femmes filicides : prison ou aile psychiatrique?
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Filicide, the murder of a child by a parent (1), is a rare phenomenon,
one which many authors have studied (2–10). In Canada, maternal filicide
represented nearly 4% of all solved homicides in the year 1998. From 1991
to 1997, the mean percentage of maternal filicide was 3.5% (11).
Some studies reveal that mothers commit this type of offence more often
than do fathers (1–4,12–14). Other results, however, have shown that paternal
filicides often exceed or equal the number of maternal filicides (15–22).
One Canadian study indicates that, from 1980 to 1989, 542 children under
age 12 years were victims of murder, manslaughter, or infanticide. Each
one-third of the homicide victims were killed by mothers, fathers, or other
family members; by acquaintances; or by strangers (22).
Data related to sentencing are sometimes available in articles about filicide.
Unfortunately, some studies on filicidal fathers and mothers do not separate
the statistics of these 2 groups (23–25). Even so, some authors have compared
men with women (19,21,26); for example, Wilczynski reported that filicidal
women were less likely than were filicidal men to be prosecuted or convicted
for murder (26). They also received bail and shorter and more treatment-oriented
sentences more often than did men. In the field of maternal filicide, data
about legal dispositions and court procedures (charge and verdict) are
considered more of an issue and therefore more documented (1,3,4,27–29).
Filicidal mothers who are tried in court either receive a sentence, are
found unfit for trial, or are found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI)
(Note 1), with the latter generally favoured by courts and juries (1).
To our knowledge, only Holden, Burland, and Lemmen (30) have tried to determine
which variables discriminate between filicidal women declared as NGRI and
women declared as criminally responsible. Their results indicate that some
variables differed between these 2 subgroups. Most often, NGRI women had
a psychiatric and a substance abuse history and were more likely to have
experienced psychotic symptoms at the time of the offence and to have attempted
suicide after the offence.
The purpose of this study is to present data about the legal process in
a sample of 32 filicidal women in the province of Quebec and to find out
whether some variables differed significantly between those who were found
guilty and those who received a medical disposition.
Methods
The initial sample included 42 women (age 18 years and over) who had killed
their biological children in the province of Quebec (50 victims) over an
11-year period (1981 to 1991) (31). During that same period, data from
Statistics Canada indicated that there were a total of 54 victims of maternal
filicides in Quebec. However, it was impossible to obtain information about
4 homicides. Most women killed 1 child (36/42). Of the remainder, 5 killed
2 children, and another killed 4 children.
The final sample comprised 32 of the 42 women; 9 women committed suicide
after the offence and before their trial, and another was reported missing.
The sample was divided into 2 subgroups: women who were found guilty and
women who received a medical disposition.
We identified all the filicidal mothers by examining a judicially oriented
newspaper for the selected period (Allo Police). We completed an exhaustive
search of the police reports, the tribunal files, and those from the prison
for women (Maison Tanguay), the forensic psychiatric institution (Institut
Philippe Pinel de Montréal), and the Coroner’s office.
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Table 1 List of variables
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Variables
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Categorical or continuous
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Education (n = 20)
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Continuous variable
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Suicide attempt history
(n = 25)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Drug or alcohol history
(n = 28)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Employed at time of offence
(n = 29)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Socioeconomic status (n = 30)
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2 categories (low or other)
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Recent move (n = 31)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Criminal history (n = 31)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Lived with her spouse (n = 32)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Age of the mother (n = 32)
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2 categories (£ 28 years, and
³ 29 years), cut-off, median
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Drug or alcohol at the time of offence (n = 32)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Suicide attempt at the time of offence (n = 32)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Involvement of Youth Protection Services and placement of the child
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Depression at the time of the offence (n = 28)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Marital instability (n = 29)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Recent separation (n = 29)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Psychosis at the time of the offence (n = 29)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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Motive (n = 30)
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2 categories (altruism or others)
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Psychiatric history (n = 30)
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2 categories (yes or no)
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First orientation after homicide (n = 32)
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2 categories (hospital or prison)
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Method of killing (n = 32)
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2 categories (softer methods or brutal methods)
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Sex of the victims (n = 32)
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2 categories (girl or boy)
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Age of the victims (n = 32)
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2 categories (age £ 3 years or
³ 4 years)
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Total number of victims
(n = 32)
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2 categories (1 or 2 and more)
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Other children not victims
(n = 32)
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2 categories (none or at least 1)
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Table 1 shows that most variables are categorical, except for the age and
education level, which are continuous. Data concerning the legal process
are presented: charges, verdicts, and sentences. Next, variables were compared
between the 2 subgroups of women. Chi-square and Mann–Whitney were used
to determine whether differences are statistically significant. The alpha
probability for this study is P < 0.05.
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