Fraught with the utmost danger: The object relations of mothers who kill their children

Abstract

The author explores the psychodynamics of maternal filicide from an object relations perspective. Among psychotic women, the murder of the child reflects a critical interplay among the mother's neurobiology, constitution, developmental experiences, and complex internal object world. Two types of personality structure are discussed. For the disorganized type, the psychodynamic scenario involves attempts to contend with the danger of massive internal breakdown. For the organized type, the scenario involves attempts to contend with the danger of persecution and annihilation. For these women, physical violence is used because of failures in mentalization, and is an enactment of catastrophic internal anxieties.

Maternal filicide theoretical framework

“…Researchers found that the parent‐child association with a psychiatric disorder was strongest when the parent's predisposition to mental illness impinged on or involved the child in some way (Lewis & Bunce, 2003; Rutter & Quinton, 1984). It appeared that children were most at risk when they were the victims of aggressive acts or hostile behavior, were the target of parental delusions, or were involved in parental symptomatology (Kunst, 2002; Mullick, Miller, & Jacobsen, 2001). …”

“…For the purposes of this discussion, emphasis will be placed on the first two components of the framework, phenotypic vulnerabilities (vulnerabilities) and triggers , because they are most relevant to the development of adequate strategies for recognition of mothers at risk, and ultimately, for prevention. Phenotypic vulnerabilities are biopsychosocial factors produced by the interaction of the genotype and the environment that give rise to observable differences among individuals and species (Kunst, 2002; Oxford English Dictionary [OED], 1989). In essence, an individual may be predisposed to certain behaviors and perceptions as a result of exposure to specific environmental and genetic factors.…”

A Meta-Synthesis of Filicide Classification Systems: Psychosocial and Psychodynamic Issues in Women Who Kill Their Children

“…Many psychoanalytic writers have emphasized that violence is not a unitary phenomenon and that various core complexes, motives, and fantasies warrant exploration and understanding (Glasser, 1986;Perelberg, 1995, as cited in Kunst, 2002. Kunst (2002) sought to develop an understanding of complex psychodynamics from an object relation's perspective. She delineated two broad conceptual categories of psychosis in filicidal mothers: psychopathic and psychotic.…”

“…The aim of the psychopathic mother is sadistic (Glasser, 1986 as cited by Kunst, 2002). The child was never wanted and is killed either as an unintentional result of child abuse or in the mother's deliberate, vengeful effort to make her spouse suffer (d'Orban, 1979;Resnick, 1969).…”

“…Although the women are psychologically disturbed, they are typically found guilty of murder or manslaughter and sentenced to state prison. The psychotic mother's crime has been termed "pathological filicide" (Bourget & Bradford, 1990;Kunst, 2002). The violence is considered selfpreservative, aimed at managing a perceived threat of danger to the self or child (Fonagy &Target, 1995;Glasser, 1986;Mitchell, 1993 as cited in Kunst, 2002).…”