Headlines of mothers killing their own children always shock us. We wonder what must be going through the minds of murdering moms like Susan Smith and Andrea Yates? Why does this horrific crime happen hundreds of times a year? How can this tragedy be prevented? These are the types of questions a forensic psychologist tries to answer.
In his book, Why Mothers Kill: A Forensic Psychologist’s Casebook, forensic psychologist Geoffrey McKee tries to help readers understand, (and prevent) mothers who take the lives of their own children. In his practice, McKee has performed evaluations of over 500 murderers, 32 of them being mothers (including Susan Smith) who killed one or more of their children.
McKee states some stunning statistics from 2001 (the most recent numbers of this type of crime): 1,300 children died due to abuse or neglect by their parents/caretakers, 390 children (or one child each day) were killed by their mothers, 85% of the victims were less than 6-years-old and 41% had not reached their first birthdays.
For the motivation of the child murder, McKee classifies moms-that-kill into five categories:
- Detached – The bonding of the mother to the child is either undeveloped or unwanted.
- Abusive/Neglectful – The mother -child relationship is based on excessive or nonexistent discipline.
- Psychotic/Depressed – Mental illness negatively influences the mother’s perceptions of their children.
- Retaliatory – Punishing others for interfering in the relationship between the mom and her child (by killing the child).
- Psychopathic – The mom’s relationship with the child is based upon narcissism: using children for finances, addiction and narcissism.
Because forensic psychology is more than statistics and classifications, McKee includes the stories of several women in his book; devoting a chapter to each. He transcribes the women’s thoughts and emotions before, during, and after the murders.
McKee also suggests interventions to help prevent moms from killing their children:
- Educate women about ”safe haven” laws, which allow a mother to leave a newborn at a hospital (or another appropriate facility) instead of killing it. McKee says very few women take advantage of these laws and may not even know they exist.
- Educate women about the pre-danger signs of child murder via other women’s true stories in TV, movies, documentaries, cable interviews and women’s magazines.
- Form of an interdisciplinary panel of experts from psychology, medicine, law enforcement, nursing and social work to better understand and prevent these tragedies.
- Study large numbers of mothers who were convicted of child homicide. As he does in his book, McKee wants these women to be asked questions about their childhood, education, mental health, substance abuse, criminal, sexual, partner/marital, interpersonal, and vocational histories.
- Study mothers who abandoned their newborns at a hospital or other public service locations. McKee admits that some “safe haven” laws allow the mother to remain anonymous and do not require collecting information about her. He advocates changing law statues to help aid in preventions.
Forensic psychologists such as Geoffrey McKee go far beyond analyzing the trail of tears; they try to prevent tragedy from recurring in the future.