1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910782955203321

Autore

Meyer Cheryl L. <1959->

Titolo

Mothers who kill their children [[electronic resource] ] : understanding the acts of moms from Susan Smith to the "Prom Mom" / / Cheryl L. Meyer and Michelle Oberman ; with Kelly White ... [et al.]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : New York University Press, c2001

ISBN

0-8147-5966-1

1-4356-5517-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (224 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

ObermanMichelle

WhiteKelly

Disciplina

364.15/23/0852

Soggetti

Filicide

Infanticide

Women murderers

Mothers - Psychology

Mothers - Social conditions

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-211) and index.

Nota di contenuto

""Cover Page""; ""Title Page""; ""Copyright Page""; ""Dedication""; ""Contents""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Introduction: A Brief Cross-Cultural History of Infanticide""; ""1. Previous Attempts to Understand Why Mothers Kill Their Children""; ""2. Denial of Pregnancy: Secret Lives""; ""3. Purposeful Killing: Neither Mad nor Bad""; ""4. Maternal Neglect: A Search for Meaning""; ""5. Abuse-Related Deaths""; ""6. Assistance or Coercion from a Partner: Relations to Domestic Violence""

""7. Responding to Mothers Who Kill: Toward a Comprehensive Rethinking of Law, Policy, and Intervention Strategies""""Notes""; ""Index""; ""About the Authors""

Sommario/riassunto

A special kind of horror is reserved for mothers who kill their children. Cases such as those of Susan Smith, who drowned her two young sons by driving her car into a lake, and Melissa Drexler, who disposed of her newborn baby in a restroom at her prom, become media sensations. Unfortunately, in addition to these high-profile cases, hundreds of mothers kill their children in the United States each year. The question



most often asked is, why? What would drive a mother to kill her own child?   Those who work with such cases, whether in clinical psychology, social services, law enforcement or ac