Neonaticide

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Neonaticide is the deliberate act of a parent murdering their own child during the first 24 hours of life. [1] [2] As a noun, the word "neonaticide" may also refer to anyone who practices or who has practiced this.

Contents

Neonaticide is relatively rare in developed countries, but most of these murders remain secret:

"...every year, hundreds of women commit neonaticide: they kill their newborns or let them die. Most neonaticides remain undiscovered, but every once in a while a janitor follows a trail of blood to a tiny body in a trash bin, or a woman faints and doctors find the remains of a placenta inside her."

—  Steven Pinker, The New York Times , 1997 [3]

Neonaticide is considerably more commonly committed by mothers than fathers; infanticide is also more likely to be committed by mothers than fathers. A 1999 United States Department of Justice study concluded that between 1976 and 1997 in the United States, mothers were responsible for a higher share of children killed during infancy, while fathers were more likely to have been responsible for the murders of children age eight or older. [4]

Statistics

90% of neonaticidal mothers are 25 years of age or younger. Less than 20% are married. Less than 30% are seen as psychotic or depressed. [5] [6] [7] They have typically denied or concealed the pregnancy since conception. [8] [1]

45% of all child murders occur in the first 24 hours of life, and thus can be classified as neonaticide. [9] For the period 1982–1987, approximately 1.1% of all homicides have been of children under one year of age. 8–9% of all murders are of persons under 18 years of age. Of these, almost twice as many sons as compared to daughters are victims. [5] In half of the cases death occurs literally "at the hands of" the parent. Weapons are almost never used in neonaticide. Drowning, strangulation, head trauma, suffocation, and exposure to the elements are all common methods. [5]

Current law

Poland

Article 149 of the Penal Code of Poland stipulates that a mother who kills her child in labour, while under the influence of the course of the delivery, is punishable by imprisonment of three months to five years. [10]

Romania

The new Penal Code of Romania, which came into force in 2014, resolved the issues of the previous Code, under which the law was unclear. Article 200 of the new Penal Code stipulates that the killing of a newborn during the first 24 hours, by the mother who is in a state of mental distress, shall be punished with imprisonment of one to five years. [11]

United States

Under the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002, a woman who gives childbirth after an attempted abortion is the mother of a born-alive infant if the infant is observed with any of the following signs of life: breathing, heartbeat, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or confirmed voluntary muscle movement, regardless of the gestational age of the child. Although medical guidelines recommend withholding resuscitation for infants with practically no chance of surviving, and allow parental discretion if the chance of survival is marginal, any child that has a better-than-marginal chance of survival who is allowed to die would be considered the victim of infanticide or neonaticide. [12] [13]

History

An early reference to filicide (the killing of a child by a parent) is in Greek mythology. In his play Medea, Euripides portrayed Medea as having killed her two sons after Jason abandoned her for the daughter of the King of Corinth [14] giving us what has been termed the Medea Complex. [15] Under the Roman Law, patria potestas, the right of a father to kill his own children was protected. [16] [17] It was not until the 4th century that the Roman state, influenced by Christianity, began to regard filicide as a crime. Still, mothers who killed their infants or newborns received lesser sentences under both the laws of the church and the state. [18] [19]

The church consistently dealt more leniently with those mothers whose children died by overlaying, an accidental death by smothering when a sleeping parent rolled over on the infant. The opinions of the church in these deaths may reflect an awareness of one of society's first attempts to understand the severe problem of overpopulation and overcrowding. [20] England has traditionally viewed infanticide as a "special crime," passing its first Infanticide Act in 1623 under the Stuarts and more recently in the Infanticide Acts of 1922 and 1938. [21] [22] Most recently England passed the Infanticide Act of 1978 which allows a lesser sentence for attempted infanticide. [23] Unlike England and other European countries, the United States has not adopted special statutes to deal with infanticide or neonaticide. Nonetheless, juries and judges, as reflected in their verdicts and sentences, have consistently considered the difficulties and stresses of a mother during the post-partum period. [24]

Modern times

Australia

In June 2016 it was reported that 27 babies were born in Queensland hospitals in 2015, only to later die after not receiving care. [25] This was also reported to be happening as early as 2007 in Victoria, where 52 babies were born alive after failed late-term abortions [26] and were "simply put on a shelf and left to die." [27] [28] This is generally accepted as fitting the definition of infanticide in Victoria [29] and other states.

Cultural aspects

A roadside sign in rural Sichuan: "It is forbidden to discriminate against, abuse or abandon baby girls." PRC family planning don't abandon girls.jpg
A roadside sign in rural Sichuan: "It is forbidden to discriminate against, abuse or abandon baby girls."

The Chinese, as late as the 20th century, killed newborn daughters because they were unable to transmit the family name. Additionally, daughters were viewed as weaker and not as useful in time of war or for agricultural work. In the past, Inuit killed infants with known congenital anomalies and often one of a set of twins. [30] Similarly, Mohave Indians had killed all children of racially mixed ancestry at birth. [31]

In their 1981 paper, Sakuta and Saito [32] reviewed infanticide in Japan and describe the two distinct types of infanticide commonly seen. The Mabiki type corresponds to the ancient means of "thinning out" or population control; the Anomie type, a product of modern society, corresponds to the "unwanted child."

Prevention

A number of studies have evaluated risk factors in infant homicide with the aim of preventing it. [1]

Anonymous delivery, a system where mothers can give birth in a hospital for free without showing ID, has been found to reduce the rate of police reported neonaticides in Austria. [33]

Baby hatch

In the Middle Ages and in the 18th and 19th centuries, a "foundling wheel" system was used where mothers could leave them anonymously to be found and cared for. In modern times, baby hatch systems have been introduced in hospitals and other areas to allow mothers to leave children. [34] [35]

The hatches are usually in hospitals, social centres, or churches, and consist of a door or flap in an outside wall which opens onto a soft bed, heated or at least insulated. Sensors in the bed alert carers when a baby has been put in it so that they can come and take care of the child. In Germany, babies are first looked after for eight weeks during which the mother can return and claim her child without any legal repercussions. If this does not happen, after eight weeks the child is put up for adoption.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

Infanticide is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of resources being spent on weak or disabled offspring. Unwanted infants were normally abandoned to die of exposure, but in some societies they were deliberately killed.

Early infanticidal childrearing is a term used in the study of psychohistory that refers to infanticide in paleolithic, pre-historical, and historical hunter-gatherer tribes or societies. "Early" means early in history or in the cultural development of a society, not to the age of the child. "Infanticidal" refers to the high incidence of infants killed when compared to modern nations. The model was developed by Lloyd deMause within the framework of psychohistory as part of a seven-stage sequence of childrearing modes that describe the development attitudes towards children in human cultures The word "early" distinguishes the term from late infanticidal childrearing, identified by deMause in the more established, agricultural cultures up to the ancient world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infant</span> Very young offspring of humans

An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. Infant is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term baby. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of other organisms. A newborn is, in colloquial use, an infant who is only hours, days, or up to one month old. In medical contexts, a newborn or neonate is an infant in the first 28 days after birth; the term applies to premature, full term, and postmature infants.

Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring in an illegal way, with the intent of never resuming or reasserting guardianship. The phrase is typically used to describe the physical abandonment of a child, but it can also include severe cases of neglect and emotional abandonment, such as when parents fail to provide financial and emotional support for children over an extended period of time. An abandoned child is referred to as a foundling. Baby dumping refers to parents leaving a child younger than 12 months in a public or private place with the intent of terminating their care for the child. It is also known as rehoming when adoptive parents use illegal means, such as the internet, to find new homes for their children. In the case where child abandonment is anonymous within the first 12 months, it may be referred to as secret child abandonment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filicide</span> Deliberate act of a parent killing their own child

Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent killing their own child. The word filicide is derived from the Latin words filius and filia and the suffix -cide, meaning to kill. The word can refer to both the crime and perpetrator of the crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apgar score</span> Scale for newborn viability

The Apgar score is a quick way for health professionals to evaluate the health of all newborns at 1 and 5 minutes after birth and in response to resuscitation. It was originally developed in 1952 by an anesthesiologist at Columbia University, Virginia Apgar, to address the need for a standardized way to evaluate infants shortly after birth.

Female infanticide is the deliberate killing of newborn female children. Female infanticide is prevalent in several nations such as China, India and Pakistan. It has been argued that the low status in which women are viewed in patriarchal societies creates a bias against females. The modern practice of gender-selective abortion is also used to regulate gender ratios.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to childhood:

The Infanticide Act is the name of two 20th-century acts in English law that started treating the killing of an infant child by its mother during the early months of life as a lesser crime than murder.

Fetal viability is the ability of a human fetus to survive outside the uterus. Medical viability is generally considered to be between 23 and 24 weeks gestational age. Viability depends upon factors such as birth weight, gestational age, and the availability of advanced medical care. In low-income countries, half of newborns born at or below 32 weeks gestational age died due to a lack of medical access; in high-income countries, the vast majority of newborns born above 24 weeks gestational age survive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baby hatch</span> Device for transfer of unwanted infants

A baby hatch or baby box is a place where people can bring babies, usually newborn, and abandon them anonymously in a safe place to be found and cared for. This kind of arrangement was common in the Middle Ages and in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the device was known as a foundling wheel. Foundling wheels were taken out of use in the late 19th century, but a modern form, the baby hatch, began to be introduced again from 1952 and since 2000 has come into use in many countries, most notably in Pakistan where there are more than 300. They can also be found in Germany, where there are around 100, Czech Republic (76) and Poland (67).

Child euthanasia is a form of euthanasia that is applied to children who are gravely ill or have significant birth defects. In 2005, the Netherlands became the first country since the end of the Third Reich to decriminalize euthanasia for infants with hopeless prognosis and intractable pain. Nine years later, Belgium amended its 2002 Euthanasia Act to extend the rights of euthanasia to minors. Like euthanasia, there is world-wide public controversy and ethical debate over the moral, philosophical and religious issues of child euthanasia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coin-operated-locker babies</span> Aspect of child abuse in Japan

Coin-operated-locker babies or coin-locker babies (Japanese: コインロッカーベイビー, romanized: koinrokkābeibī, lit. 'coin locker baby' are victims of child abuse often occurring in Japan, in which infants are left in public lockers. There are two main variables that account for the differences in frequency and the type of these child abuse cases: social and economical. Predominantly neonates and male babies, the murder of infants became a form of population control in Japan, being discovered 1–3 months after death, wrapped in plastic and appearing to have died of asphyxiation. The presumption is that such lockers are regularly checked by attendants and the infant will be found quickly; however, many children are found dead. Between 1980 and 1990, there were 191 reported cases of infants which died in coin-operated lockers, which represents about six percent of all infanticides during that period.

Foeticide, or feticide, is the act of killing a fetus, or causing a miscarriage. Definitions differ between legal and medical applications, whereas in law, feticide frequently refers to a criminal offense, in medicine the term generally refers to a part of an abortion procedure in which a provider intentionally induces fetal demise to avoid the chance of an unintended live birth, or as a standalone procedure in the case of selective reduction.

Infanticide in 19th-century New Zealand was difficult to assess, especially for newborn indigenous Māori infants. Resultantly, many New Zealand women who might otherwise have been sentenced to penal servitude or capital punishment in New Zealand had their sentences commuted to the lesser charge of "concealment of birth" under the Offences Against the Person Act 1867. However, the relative leniency extended only to mothers of concealed or hidden infants who subsequently died. Fathers, grandparents and "baby farmers" like Minnie Dean, the only woman to be executed in New Zealand history, and Daniel Cooper in the 1920s were viewed as more culpable for the death of such infants.

China has a history of female infanticide which spans 2,000 years. When Christian missionaries arrived in China in the late sixteenth century, they witnessed newborns being thrown into rivers or onto rubbish piles. In the seventeenth century Matteo Ricci documented that the practice occurred in several of China's provinces and said that the primary reason for the practice was poverty. The practice continued into the 19th century and declined precipitously during the Communist era, but has reemerged as an issue since the introduction of the one-child policy in the early 1980s. The 2020 census showed a male-to-female ratio of 105.07 to 100 for mainland China, a record low since the People's Republic of China began conducting censuses. Every year in China and India alone, there are close to two million instances of some form of female infanticide.

Female infanticide in India has a history spanning centuries. Poverty, the dowry system, births to unmarried women, deformed infants, famine, lack of support services, and maternal illnesses such as postpartum depression are among the causes that have been proposed to explain the phenomenon of female infanticide in India.

For years, the census data in China has recorded a significant imbalance sex ratio toward the male population, meaning there are fewer women than men. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as the missing women or missing girls of China. In 2021, the male-to-female ratio of China is recorded at 104.61 to 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Female infanticide in Pakistan</span> Deliberate killing of female newborns in Pakistan

Female infanticide in Pakistan had been a common practice. But it is no longer a common practice due to steps taken by local polices and Governments and Ordinances.

An anonymous birth is a birth where the mother gives birth to a child without disclosing her identity, or where her identity remains unregistered. In many countries, anonymous births have been legalized for centuries in order to prevent formerly frequent killings of newborn children, particularly outside of marriage.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Craig, M. (2004). "Perinatal risk factors for neonaticide and infant homicide: Can we identify those at risk?". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 97 (2): 57–61. doi:10.1177/014107680409700203. PMC   1079289 . PMID   14749398.
  2. ↑ Resnick, Phillip J. (1969). "Child Murder by Parents: A Psychiatric Review of Filicide". American Journal of Psychiatry. 126 (3): 325–334. doi:10.1176/ajp.126.3.325. PMID   5801251.
  3. ↑ Pinker, Steven (2 November 1997). "Why They Kill Their Newborns". The New York Times . Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  4. ↑ [ unreliable source? ]
  5. 1 2 3 Uniform Crime Reports (1982-1987). U.S. Government Printing Office
  6. ↑ Harder, Thøger (1967). "The Psyghopathology of Infanticide". Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 43 (2): 196–245. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1967.tb11026.x. PMID   6077785. S2CID   143610528.
  7. ↑ Turnbull H.R. (1986). "Incidence of Infanticide in America: Public and Professional Attitudes". Issues in Law & Medicine . 1 (5): 363–389. PMID   3636286.
  8. ↑ Jenkins, Angela; Millar, Simon; Robins, James (2011). "Denial of pregnancy – a literature review and discussion of ethical and legal issues". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 104 (7): 286–291. doi:10.1258/jrsm.2011.100376. PMC   3128877 . PMID   21725094.
  9. ↑ d'Orban, P. T. (1979). "Women who kill their children". The British Journal of Psychiatry. 134 (6): 560–571. doi:10.1192/bjp.134.6.560. PMID   476366. S2CID   31145687.
  10. ↑ Ustawa z dnia 6 czerwca 1997 r. - Kodeks karny , Dz. U. z 1997 r. Nr 88, poz. 553 (1997-06-06)
  11. ↑ "Noul Cod Penal (2014)".
  12. ↑ Kattwinkel, J.; Perlman, J. M.; Aziz, K.; Colby, C.; Fairchild, K.; Gallagher, J.; Hazinski, M. F.; Halamek, L. P.; Kumar, P.; Little, G.; McGowan, J. E.; Nightengale, B.; Ramirez, M. M.; Ringer, S.; Simon, W. M.; Weiner, G. M.; Wyckoff, M.; Zaichkin, J. (2010). "Neonatal Resuscitation: 2010 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care". Pediatrics. 126 (5): e1400–e1413. doi:10.1542/peds.2010-2972E. PMID   20956432. S2CID   6405583.
  13. ↑ Guidelines on Basic Newborn Resuscitation (PDF). 2012. p. 42. ISBN   978-92-4-150369-3 . Retrieved 29 October 2015.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  14. ↑ Hamilton, E.: Mythology. New York, Mentor Book, 1942[ page needed ]
  15. ↑ Wittels, F.: Psychoanalysis and literature, in Lorand, S. (ed): Psychoanalysis Today, Albanay, N.Y., Boyd Printing Co., 1944.[ page needed ]
  16. ↑ Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition: St. Paul, Minnesota, West Publishing Company
  17. ↑ 142 N.Y.S.2d 163
  18. ↑ Victoroff, VM (1955). "A case of infanticide related to psychomotor automatism; psychodynamic, physiological, forensic, and sociological considerations". Journal of Clinical and Experimental Psychopathology. 16 (3): 191–220. PMID   13263425.
  19. ↑ Langer, W. L. (1974). "Infanticide: A historical survey". History of Childhood Quarterly. 1 (3): 353–66. PMID   11614564.
  20. ↑ Hale, M.: The History of the Pleas of the Crown. London, E.R. Nutt and R. Gosling, 1736.
  21. ↑ Infanticide Act of 1938, 1 and 2 Geo. 6, c36, sec. 1 (1)
  22. ↑ Jeudwine, J.: Observations on English Criminal Law and Procedure. London, D.S. King, 1968[ page needed ]
  23. ↑ Wilkins, A. J. (1985). "Attempted infanticide". The British Journal of Psychiatry. 146 (2): 206–208. doi:10.1192/bjp.146.2.206. PMID   3978337. S2CID   650581.
  24. ↑ "Dr. Neil S. Kaye MD, PA Forensic Psychiatrist Expert Witness in Forensics Psychiatry".
  25. ↑ "Rise in Queensland babies surviving late-term abortions, figures show". ABC News. 2016-06-15. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  26. ↑ "THE CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL ON OBSTETRIC AND PAEDIATRIC MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2006" (PDF). Health.vic.gov.au. Department of Health & Human Services (Victoria). July 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  27. ↑ Zwartz, Barney (2010-10-06). "Aborted babies 'being left to die'". The Age. Retrieved 2017-02-12.[ unreliable source? ]
  28. ↑ "VICTORIA: Babies born alive, but left to die?". newsweekly.com.au. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 2017-02-12.[ unreliable source? ]
  29. ↑ Law of Abortion - Final Report (PDF). Victorian Law Reform Commission. 2008. pp. Chapter 7, Section 55. ISBN   9780975846605. Victorian Law Reform Commission
  30. ↑ Garber, CM (1947). "Eskimo infanticide". The Scientific Monthly. 64 (2): 98–102. Bibcode:1947SciMo..64...98G. JSTOR   19306. PMID   20285669.
  31. ↑ Devereux, G (1948). "Mohave Indian infanticide". Psychoanalytic Review. 35 (2): 126–39. PMID   18891181.
  32. ↑ Sakuta, Tsutomu; Saito, Satoru (1981). "A socio-medical study on 71 cases of infanticide in Japan". The Keio Journal of Medicine. 30 (4): 155–168. doi: 10.2302/kjm.30.155 . PMID   7347770.
  33. ↑ Klier, CM; Grylli, C.; Amon, S.; Fiala, C.; Weizmann-Henelius, G.; Pruitt, SL; Putkonen, H. (2013). "Is the introduction of anonymous delivery associated with a reduction of high neonaticide rates in Austria? A retrospective study". BJOG. 120 (4): 428–434. doi:10.1111/1471-0528.12099. PMC   3621136 . PMID   23210536.
  34. ↑ Hibbert, Katharine (2006-05-21). "The Child Catchers". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  35. ↑ The 'baby box' returns to Europe, BBC News, 26 June 2012
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