Motivation and emotion/Book/2015/Infanticide motivation
What motivates people to commit infanticide?
Overview[edit | edit source]
Imagine you are out and about completing your daily task when you receive the new that you are expecting a new child. Whether a planned pregnancy or not, the decision is made that you will go through with it. Months go by and your baby is delivered. Somewhere within the next 12 months, you find reasoning that you no longer can continue parenting your child. You kill your baby. But why? This page examines why certain individuals are capable of murdering their newborn babies. This chapter will explore the motivational factors that contribute to the unlawful killing of babies and potential ways to prevent future occurrences.
Introduction[edit | edit source]
To understand what motivates infanticide, a clear understanding of what infanticide is should be established. Infanticide is defined differently in various places in the world, however, the main characteristic include the killing of a baby under 12 months of age. Although this does sound like the crime of murder, infanticide is usually committed by the mother of the child who, at the time of the act is "not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth of that child; and or by reason of the effect of lactation consequent upon the birth of the child" (AustLII, 2015).
Infanticide can be broken in to two broad categories that are: direct or active, and indirect or passive (Lopez, Turczyn & Nayaran, n.d.).
Direct or Active: This form refers to the deliberate killing by means of starvation, strangulation, head injuries or suffocation.
Indirect or Passive: This form refers to acts of neglect or carelessness that results in the death of the child.
Statistic drawn from all areas in Australia indicate that between the years of 1997 and 2008, a total of 468 children died at the hands of their parents (Kirkwood, Standish, Mckenzie & Hendry, 2013). He biggest percentages of those victims were under the age of one, making up one third of the total lives lost (Kirkwood, Standish, Mckenzie & Hendry, 2013). The highset risks of premature death are in the first 24 hours of the child’s life (Mouzos & Rushforth, 2003). The risk decreases each week, however, the first four months of life remain the highest risk factor for children to be killed by their parents (Mouzos & Rushforth, 2003).
For mothers who engaged in this crime, the most common cause of death was strangulation (Kirkwood, Standish, Mckenzie & Hendry, 2013). This was followed by poisoning, drowning and stabbing (Kirkwood, Standish, Mckenzie & Hendry, 2013).
History[edit | edit source]
Historically, infanticide has been practice by people across the world since the golden age (Milner, 1998). The causes of infanticide varied depending on were you are in the world. Milner (1998) suggested that population control and poverty accounts for early instances of infanticide. In times of food insecurity, restricting the amount of children who were able to survive until adulthood provided better control of resources to obtain food (Milner, 1998). Cultural practice also contributed to many babies, especially females, dying prematurely (Sharma, 2007). This was reflective of beliefs that the female child was a curse to the family or would not be able to successfully keep the family legacy (Milner, 1998). Lopez, Turczyn & Nayaran (n.d.) stated that unwanted pregnancies are more common especially coming into the more modern times. The work from Moseley (1986) suggested that the murder of undesirable babies, such as those that were handicapped, were more frequent in Western societies.
Key Factors and Motivators[edit | edit source]
Infanticide has been recorded all over the world. For recorded cases, there are common characteristics that are shared. These include altruistic killings, poverty, mental instability and social pressures.
Altruistic Infanticide[edit | edit source]
This type of infanticide occurs when the mother believe that they are killing their baby out of love. This is usually to protect them from another, force, being or to end their suffering. This sort of homicide can be a psychotic or non-psychotic act (De Bortoli, Coles & Dolan, 2013).
Poverty[edit | edit source]
Needs are the conditions within a person that are essential for the growth well-being and life (Reeve, 2015). For some of our basic needs in life, we need resources that we can exchange to obtain them (Reeve, 2015). For example, we need to drink water to survive which can be received in exchange for money. For individuals that have limited resources to exchange for money, a baby may be seen as a blockade to satisfying that need.
Case Study: Infanticide Problem in India
"In 2006, UNICEF reported that 10 million girls had been killed before age one since 1986 in India. Statistic indicate that this nationwide crisis has resulted in an a significantly higher male population: 750 females to every 1000 males" (Miller, 2013).
Female infanticide is a huge social problem in India, especially in Gujarat and the North Indian states (Miller, 2013). Male children are valued higher than females as they are thought to bring wealth to the family. Female children are often viewed as burdens and very expensive to raise, especially for those in poorer communities (Sharma, 2007). Some communities utilise a dowry system, whereby the family of the bride offer a significant amount of money or goods to the groom and his family. This can be quite costly and can make it difficult for the family of the female child to afford daily resources or to rebuild their wealth (Miller, 2013). As a result, it is seen as an easier avenue to kill their baby girl.
Mental Instability[edit | edit source]
The period following childbirth leaves women most at risk of disturbance to their mental health (De Bortoli, Coles & Dolan, 2013). The status of a persons mental health can impact their ability to rationally assess situations that might seem possible for the average person. Mental overload is a term described by Putkonen et al. (2011), meaning a state of hopelessness, despair, or failure due to mental exhaustion, or problem-override. Data from numerous studies indicate that stressor including being the primary caregivers for children, financial hardship, being in abusive intimate relationship and having limited social support are common factors or mothers who kill their own children (Kirkwood, Standish, Mckenzie & Hendry, 2013).
Cultural and Societal Pressures[edit | edit source]
In some cultures, the thought of an unwanted child is based upon gender (Sharma, 2007). The social inequality between males and females create the parameters to justify the killing of female babies. This has seen to be a huge problem in India.
It is argued that within India, female infanticide is not a class-based phenomenon (Sharma, 2007). However, those who are poorer have limited access to technologies that can assist in determining the sex of a baby before birth (Sharma, 2007). This allows those women to terminate their pregnancy according to the abortion laws of their country without having to go though the struggles of childbirth.
Furthermore, other social pressures have seen to affect women's decision to keep their babies. These can include the stigma attached to having a child out of wedlock, having a baby at a young age and having a baby to a person in a different social class to yourself (Taylor & Langer, 1977).
Case Study: Keli Lane
In 2010, former Australian water polo representative Keli Lane was convicted of the murder of her daughter Tegan. At the time of death, Tegan was just two days old (McGrath & Critchley, 2015).
Keli had kept her pregnancy concealed from her friends and family(McGrath & Critchley, 2015). The judge proceeding over the case found that the crimes committed were from a situation of desperation. Social factors such as a sense of entrapment and isolation, and a perceived inability to communicate with the people close to her contributed to the fatal decision Keli made(McGrath & Critchley, 2015).
Explanations[edit | edit source]
There are a few theories that help provide an explanation as to why a person may commit infanticide. They include the drive reduction theory, the expectancy theory and the evolution theory.
Drive Reduction Theory[edit | edit source]
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Example 1
The drive reduction theory is based upon the principle that a person will engage in an act as a means to achieve something else (Kowalczyk, 2015). For example, you may be hungry. You do not want to continue being hungry, so you eat food to end your hunger. Basically, that want (food) is the drive. You are now motivated to reduce the drive. However, this is only one part. Although it may sound simple enough to get food, food can cost money. If you do not have the resource of money, you cannot get food and the want is not satisfied. This theory is based on two components. Primary and secondary drives. Primary drives are to be thought as biological needs (Kowalczyk, 2015). This can include hunger, thirst, sex and so forth. Your biological drives attempt to keep you motivated for survival. Secondary drives are linked to your primary drives (Kowalczyk, 2015). You can think of it like this: you feel hungry. You need to eat but you have no money. You get a job so you can earn money to buy food when you want. You are no longer hungry because you have bought food with your hard earned money. We condition our secondary drives to coincide with our primary drives so they become powerful enough to act (Kowalczyk, 2015). But how does this correlate with a mother killing her child? In the case study about female infanticide in India, it details how girls are expensive to raise (ABC Australia, 1997). This can cause families, especially in poorer communities, to be unable to afford basic expenses. If the little money the family has is stretched further to include another person, the ability to satisfy their basic needs is reduced. As a result, getting rid of the blockade to achieving their wants is completed. But if having a baby reduces the ability to satisfy needs, then why not kill both male and female infants? This could possibly be due to the value that is placed upon males. Males are seen to be prosperous, which will bring wealth to the family (ABC Australia, 1997). In the eyes of these communities, having an asset of a male child can increase the ability to getting what they want and need (Sharma, 2007). |
Expectancy Theory[edit | edit source]
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Example 2
Victor Vroom established the expectancy theory in 1964 (MSG Experts, 2015). This theory is based upon the expected outcomes of an action rather than actual sustained achievement (MSG Experts, 2015). There are three components to this theory that are:
For example, if you are passionate about achieving a university degree, this may motivate you to enrol in university so this goal can be obtained. Secondly, if you engage in course work and study hard, this will be reflective in your marks. Lastly, this is about foreseeing that if you engage in the course work to a high standard, you can achieve your goal that you place value in. So in short, this theory is all about consciously deciding whether to perform a set task based on the perceived outcome. The decision you make is solely depended on your motivation level, which is dependent on three factors stated above. By this theory, if a mother has a child, her motivation to have and care for that child could go as follows:
If the mother does not believe they can achieve this, their motivation to care for their child is reduced. Depending on how much value they place on their child could possibly determine whether or not they would pursue in being a parent at all. This can be seen in the case of Keli Lane. Keli did not believe she could raise her children at all. She had aborted two pregnancies and gave another two children up for adoption. If Keli saw the end goal positively, she may have been motivated to keep and take care of her children. |
Evolutionary Theory[edit | edit source]
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Example 3
The bond between a mother and her newborn infant is considered a process that should come naturally (Sosa, Smith & Vidyasagar, 1980). It is thought to happen without being taught how to love and care for one another (Sosa, Smith & Vidyasagar, 1980). Evolutionary theory provides evidence for this. The theory suggests that behaviour is not learnt, rather, it is based on instincts we inherent from generation to generation (Boundless, 2015). By this theory, individuals are motivated to demonstrate behaviours that will maximise their own genetic fitness (Boundless, 2015). Using the example above, the love and nurturing nature a mother displays to her newborn child is an instinctive quality. A newborn baby’s naturally depends on their parents for care. In the first few years of a baby’s life, they have not developed enough to care for themselves. As a result, the younger a child is, the more dependent they will be on their parents or caregiver for protection, food, shelter and other basic needs (Crime and Misconduct Commission Queensland, 2013). By this theory, it should be instinctive to the parents to be able to provide these basic needs to their child. This becomes very tricky as instincts can very, If the mother of the child committed a mercy killing, this could be seen as a instinctive action. Altruistic infanticide occurs when the caregiver believes they are killing the child to "save them". Therefore, the natural parental instinct to protect the child had been rationalised in the mind of the perpetrator. They believe that their actions are saving the child. However, the law states that the mother (or father) of the child does not have the right to make that decision. In addition, Kimball (2007) believes that for an altruistic individual who is motivated by the evolution theory must not only want to commit infanticide for their own child, but that of their peers for the sake of the group survival. |
Prevention and Future Directions[edit | edit source]
Preventive measures to infanticide differ depending on the circumstance. However, a model has been created to prevent the number of acts of infanticide occurring. This is based on the two principals of option and opportunity. In many case of infanticide, the mother feels as they have no other option but to kill their baby. They feel as there are no opportunities to gain advice, help or support. The best way to putting a stop to this is to create options and opportunities. This has to begin in schools, providing both males and females with the opportunity to learn about sex education. Crime and Misconduct Commission Queensland (2013) suggest that access to sex education and contraception may limit the amount of unwanted pregnancies. By granting people with the knowledge to avoid getting pregnant before they are ready will begin to add control to the amount of unwanted births.
Furthermore, options to abort pregnancies that are available should have easy access (Crime and Misconduct Commission Queensland, 2013). This can assist those who are unaware of the option to abort have the opportunity to. Health care practitioners/general practitioners can provide those who visit them with concern with this information.
Another avenue includes early intervention from psychiatrists in a systematic way (Resnick & Hatters Friedman, 2007). When psychiatrists suspect a patient is potentially going to commit suicide, they act on it before the deed is done. Resnick and Hatters Friedman (2007) suggest that early screening and identification of mental illness before, during and after pregnancy is important as mental illness can be a big factor. Especially if the mother has altruistic motives.
Conclusion[edit | edit source]
Infanticide is unfortunately an ongoing issue in 2015. This chapter established that altruistic killings, poverty, mental instability and social pressures are key factors in why a person may engage in such a heinous act. Furthermore, the drive reduction theory, the expectancy theory and the evolution theory provide further evidence as to why these killings occur.
It is important that education is the main focus in addressing this issue. Understanding the value of human life needs to be establish to prevent this from continuing to occur. Furthermore, support and care is need for those who are suffering from mental disturbance. In many cases, a lack of supportive network was a common factor. By providing support, those who engage in these acts may find a different path.
Test your Knowledge[edit | edit source]
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
AustLII,. (2015). CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 22A Infanticide. Austlii.edu.au. Retrieved 22 October 2015, from http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ca190082/s22a.html?stem=0&synonyms=0&query=crimes%20act
Boundless. “Evolutionary Theory of Motivation.” Boundless Psychology. Boundless, 20 Aug. 2015. Retrieved 27 Oct. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/motivation-12/theories-of-motivation-65/evolutionary-theory-of-motivation-249-12784/ Source: Boundless. “Evolutionary Theory of Motivation.” Boundless Psychology. Boundless, 20 Aug. 2015. Retrieved 27 Oct. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/motivation-12/theories-of-motivation-65/evolutionary-theory-of-motivation-249-12784/
Crime and Misconduct Commission Queensland,. (2013). Vulnerable victims: child homicide by parents (pp. 1-9). Brisbane: Crime and Misconduct Commission.
De Bortoli, L., Coles, J., & Dolan, M. (2013). Maternal Infanticide in Australia: Mental Disturbance During the Postpartum Period. Psychiatry, Psychology And Law, 20(2), 301-311. doi:10.1080/13218719.2012.719103
Kimball, A. (2007). The infanticidal logic of evolution and culture. Newark: University of Delaware Press.
Kirkwood, D., Standish, A., Mckenzie, M., & Hendry, L. (2013). Parents who kill their children in the context of separation (pp. 14-36). Victoria: Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria. Retrieved from http://www.dvrcv.org.au/sites/default/files/%E2%80%98Just%20Say%20Goodbye%E2%80%99%20(January%202013%20online%20edition).pdf
Kowalczyk, D. (2015). Drive Reduction Theory of Motivation: Definition & Examples - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. Study.com. Retrieved 27 October 2015, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/drive-reduction-theory-of-motivation-definition-examples-quiz.html
Lopez, N., Turczyn, K., & Nayaran, S. Infanticide | Humanium – Together for Children’s Rights.Humanium.org. Retrieved 23 October 2015, from http://www.humanium.org/en/infanticide/
McGrath, H., & Critchley, C. (2015). A look into the mind of one of Australia's most unlikely killers..Mamamia. Retrieved 27 October 2015, from http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/keli-lane/
Miller, D. (2013). Newborn baby girl found buried alive in Indian forest in ANOTHER tragic case of female infanticide. Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2356252/Newborn-baby-girl-buried-alive-Indian-forest-ANOTHER-case-female-infanticide.html
Milner, L. (1998). History of Infanticide. Infanticide.org. Retrieved 23 October 2015, from http://www.infanticide.org/history.htm
Moseley, K. L. (1985). History of Infanticide in Western Society, The. Issues L. & Med., 1, 345.
Mouzos, J., & Rushforth, C. (2003). Family Homicide in Australia (pp. 2-4). Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
MSG Experts,. (2015). Expectancy Theory of Motivation. Managementstudyguide.com. Retrieved 27 October 2015, from http://www.managementstudyguide.com/expectancy-theory-motivation.htm
Reeve, J. (2015). Understanding motivation and emotion (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley
Putkonen, H., Amon, S., Eronen, M., Klier, C., Almiron, M., Cederwall, J., & Weizmann-Henelius, G. (2011). Gender differences in filicide offense characteristics—A comprehensive register-based study of child murder in two European countries. Child Abuse & Neglect, 35(5), 319-328. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.01.007
Resnick, P., & Hatters Friedman, S. (2007). Child murder by mothers: patterns and prevention. World Psychiatry, 6(3), 137. ISSN 2051-5545
Sharma, R. (2007). The Ethics of Birth and Death: Gender Infanticide in India. Journal Of Bioethical Inquiry, 4(3), 181-192. doi:10.1007/s11673-007-9060-7
Sosa, R., Smith, G., & Vidyasagar, D. (1980). Maternal Bonding: An Overview. Mead Johnson Nutritional Division. Retrieved from http://www.neonatology.org/classics/mj1980/ch09.html
Taylor, S., & Langer, E. (1977). Pregnancy: A social stigma?. Sex Roles, 3(1), 27-35. doi:10.1007/bf00289688