Factors of parricide: Allowance of the use of battered child syndrome as a defense

Abuses and Distortions in Emotional Processes as Risk Factors for Parricide

“…Additionally, the presence of psychiatric illnesses and juvenile antisocial attitudes can favor the perpetration of this crime (Ewing 1990;Heide 1996). Given these premises, minor perpetrators of parricide can be differentiated in: 1) adolescents suffering of severe mental illnesses, 2) antisocial adolescents and 3) abused adolescents (Hart and Helms 2002).…”

“…The poor coping strategies of these adolescents in facing stressful events can lead them to be unpredictable. Thus, scarcely relevant episodes, as for example when the parents do not allow them to go out with their friends, may cause them to explode (Hart and Helms 2002).…”

“…The third group is the most frequent one, and it includes minors who conceive the murder of the abusing figure as the only way to escape from years of experiencing physical and psychological abuse (Hart and Helms 2002;Hillbrand et al 1999). The parricides belonging to this group usually have clear records and have grown up in violent families, characterized by alcohol abuse and easy access to arms.…”

“…In most of the cases, the murder takes place in the family home, and the perpetrator and the victim are background does not seem to play a role (Ewing 2013;Greco, Curci, and Grattagliano 2009;Hart and Helms 2003;Heide 1993;Heide and Petee 2007;Hillbrand et al 1999;Marleau, Millaud, and Auclair 2003;Marvelli 2013). Marleau et al (2003) reported the features of 90% of the male parricides which took place in Canada between 1961 and 1989.…”

“…The modality characterizing the murder is often violent and bloody, many times accompanied by "overkilling" (Bourget et al 2007). Because they are physically inferior to their parent, male adolescents prefer firearms (Hart and Helms 2003;Heide 1993), while females knives (Walsh, Frienert, and Crowder 2008).…”