Child Abuse Review Vol .

4: 309-316 (1995)

The Nature and

Editorial
Extent of Child
Homicide and Kevin D. Browne &
Margaret A. Lynch

Fatal Abuse

A ccording to a survey carried out by the charity

Kidscape and reported in The Guardian newspaper
(1 August, 1995), parents rate abduction and assault of their
child by a stranger as their greatest fear. Indeed, child
abductions have trebled over the past ten years but most are
carried out by estranged parents . A child being abducted and
murdered by a stranger, although devastating for the
families concerned, is in fact an extremely rare phenomenon .
Home Office statistics in the UK show that over the past ten
years (1984-1993) there have been 57 children murdered by
strangers (15 under five, 15 aged 5-9 and 27 aged 10-14).
This figure is roughly equivalent to the number of `filicides'
each year in the UK where children are killed by their
parents (including step-parents and cohabitees) . Thus, UK
children are more likely to be killed in their own home by
members of their own family than anywhere else or by
anyone else in society. A similar point has been made for
children in the U.S . (Gelles and Cornell, 1990) and Australia
(Strang, 1992) . However, in some developing countries this
premise may be incorrect (see letter to Editors, this issue) .
Perhaps the parental fear of child killings by strangers is
out of proportion because of media coverage. This is not to
say that newspapers ignore cases of `filicide' . The role of the
media is influencing the public and professionals concerned
with child protection policy cannot be underestimated and
this theme is explored in the last article of this Special Issue
by Chris Goddard and Max Liddell in relation to fatal child
abuse .
On 12 May 1995, The Daily Telegraph reported that joy
Senior a 28-year-old mother, from a Norfolk market town,
seized a kitchen knife and stabbed to death her three children
who she apparently doted on. This was followed by a
number of unsuccessful attempts at suicide before the
mother finally collapsed in a local pond where she drowned .
Indeed, when it comes to mass murder, that is `the taking of
0 1995 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
several lives in the same general area in a short period of time
by a lone assassin' (Gresswell and Hollin, 1994), psycholo-
gically disordered parents who kill their families before
attempting suicide are seen as one of the most common
perpetrators of multiple murder (Malmquist, 1980; Dietz,
1986) . These "family annihilators" are often depressed
fathers who kill their wives as well as their children (Holmes
and Holmes, 1992). Such people are rarely typical of other
murderers and it has been argued that family annihilation
should be looked at separately (Rappaport, 1988; Rowlands,
1990) . The motivation of parents to killing their own
children is further discussed by Wilczynski in this Special
Issue and later Reder and Fitzpatrick consider the needs of
siblings following a child abuse death.
The most common form of child killing is infanticide . This
is legally defined as `the killing of a child under the age of
twelve months by the child's mother when the balance of her
mind was disturbed because she had not fully recovered from
the effect of childbirth or lactation (Infanticide Act, 1938; see
Morris and Wilczynski, 1993) . Furthermore, most mothers
who commit infanticide are treated leniently by British
courts. Where it is proved beyond all reasonable doubt most
are given probation orders with recommendations for psychi-
atric treatment. However, in almost half of the cases where
infanticide is suspected there were no further proceedings
(Morris & Wilczynski, 1993). When the dead child is over 12
months old, then more than three quarters of the charged
mothers are convicted of manslaughter and one quarter are
imprisoned. Most are given hospital orders under the Mental
Health Act, 1983, although some are released on probation.
Morris and Wilczynski (1993) point out that almost three
times as many charged mothers as fathers are dealt with on
the basis of diminished responsibility, so that fathers are
more likely to be convicted of murder and/or given a
custodial sentence for killing their child. This approach has
its costs for the safety of the dead child's siblings . For
example, The Guardian, 15 March 1995, reported that
Tracey Lister, a 24-year-old mother from Bradford, already
convicted in 1988 of the manslaughter of her infant son and
placed on probation for three years, was found guilty and
received `life' for murdering her 2-year-old daughter . The
decision to allow Ms Lister to care for her daughter rested
with the High Court after a unanimous recommendation
from a multidisciplinary team. There were "many signs of
good parenting" . In the most recent case (The Independent,
27 October 1995) a 34-year-old Nottingham mother, Celia
Beckett was convicted of poisoning her second child after the
 first had died in suspicious circumstances . A host of warning
signs were overlooked; "The authorities failed to act as
mother claimed coincidence" . Such cases are far from
isolated events highlighted in the press .
According to a report issued by the U.S . Advisory Board
on Child Abuse and Neglect (1995), every day in the United
States five children are killed by their caretakers, homicide
being one of the leading causes of death to individuals under
the age of 18 years. Child maltreatment is also one of the
most common causes of death to young children in Australia
and Britain today with at least one to two children dying at
the hands of their parents and relatives every week and a
similar number being disabled for life (Creighton, 1992;
Strang, 1992 ; Central Statistical Office, 1994).
The homicide rate for all age groups in Great Britain is 13
for every million citizens ; this compares to a rate of 11 in
Japan, 21 in Australia and 100 individuals per million in the
USA. Despite these discrepancies the amount of domestic
homicides is approximately 40% of each country's total
number of homicides .
Newspaper reports based on police records in Britain show
that 42 % ofmurder or manslaughter cases involve a domestic
dispute and a third of the domestic victims are children.
During 1991, newspaper reports identified that 99 children
under 16 years of age died of non-accidental injury in
England, Scotland and Wales. (The Independent on Sunday,
12 January 1992). Overall, this represented 14% of homicide
victims that year. A more detailed analysis of this data
(Browne, Hamilton and Oakes, 1995) revealed that 44% of
the children were male and 56% were female. Sixty-five per
cent ofthe deaths were caused by male perpetrators and 35
female perpetrators; 49% were fathers and stepfathers, 4%
were by brothers and sisters, 4% were boyfriends and
girlfriends, 17% were perpetrators unrelated to the dead
child. In a third of cases, mothers were responsible for the
death . Strangling, suffocating and smothering were the most
common method of killing (41 %) . Sixty-four percent of the
killings were committed in the family home and in the vast
majority of cases (94%) only a single perpetrator was
involved. In 60% of cases the perpetrators were charged
with murder and 20% with manslaughter . For 16% of cases,
the assailants committed suicide after killing the children
(and 4% of cases either remain unsolved or under considera-
tion). Fifty nine percent of the children were under 5 years of
age at the time they were killed, invariably by a caregiver .
Indeed, Susan Creighton (1995) in the first paper of this
special issue highlights the fact that infants and toddlers are
31 2 Browne & Lynch

Table 1. UK Child Homicides in 1992*

Number Offences per million children
Infants (under 1 year) 38 48
Toddlers (aged 1 to 4) 25 8
Children (aged 5 to 15) 40 5
103
Total Childr en 9
(less than 16 years)
* Source : Central Statistical Office, 1994 .

most 'at-risk' of homicide than any other age-group and that

this has been the case for the last twenty years. Figures from
the Home Office (Central Statistical Office, 1994) show that
there were 103 children killed under 16 years in 1992;
representing 9 children per million (see Table 1) . However,
63 of these children (61 %) were under five years, giving an
incident rate of 16 children per million for this age group.
Thus, the homicide rate for very young children under five is
considerably higher than the overall homicide rate or that of
any other age group . This is probably due to the physical
vulnerability and dependence of these young children .
Infants are especially `at risk' with 35 and 48 killed per
million in Australia and Britain respectively (Strang, 1992;
Central Statistical Office, 1994) .
Heather Strang (1993) carried out a detailed analysis of
1,011 victims of homicide recorded by police throughout
Australia over a 3 year period between 1989 and 1992 . Of
these victims 8% were aged under 15 years. The majority of
these children (59 out of 83) were killed by parents or step-
parents and most of the remainder were killed by other
family members or friends. Only 3 were known to be victims
of strangers. Thirty percent of these children died as a
consequence of family dispute and 20% were victims of
mentally disordered perpetrators . Approximately a third of
the children were recorded as victims of fatal child abuse and
neglect as opposed to an incident of child homicide .
For the 24 specific cases of fatal child abuse there were
twice as many girls as boys . All were under aged 4 years and
70% of them were less than one year old and approximately
one third of the assailants were under age 21 . Those
responsible for the fatal abuse were mothers in 7 cases,
biological fathers in 8 cases, step-fathers in 7 cases and in the
remaining 2 cases, a non-parental caretaker who was baby-
sitting at the time . All but one of the perpetrators of child
death were unemployed at the time of the fatal abusive
incident and three-quarters of the offenders were under the
influence of alcohol (Strang, 1992) .
 Editorial 313
Therefore according to research the most obvious risk
factor is the child's age with the risk of death due to child
abuse and neglect being highest in the first year of life
(Straus and Kantor, 1987; Greenland, 1986; 1987; Chris-
toffel, 1983; 1984) . However, the younger the child the more `The younger the
likely that the death will be attributed to `accidental death',
`natural causes', `sudden infant death' or just `unexplained' . child the more
Indeed, many researchers claim (eg: Crittenden and Craig, likely that the
1990) that a significant number of fatal child abuse cases go death will be
unrecognized and that the rate of infanticide is probably
higher than official figures suggest. Furthermore, some U .S . attributed to
researchers claim that the fatality rate of child abuse and "accidental
neglect to be as high as 12 in every thousand physical abuse
cases (Jason and Andereck, 1983). The fatality rate in death"I
England and Wales is less than half this figure; at 5 per 1000
CAN cases (Creighton, 1992). In a Canadian sample,
Greenland (1986) found that 60% of the fatal victims had
been previously abused and their injuries treated by
physicians . Hence, a second risk factor is a history of
previous or unexplained injuries to the child or his/her
siblings . In addition, Greenland (1986) found that almost
half (47%) of those infants who died in their first year of life
were suffering from non-organic failure to thrive and were at
or below the third centile for height and weight .
Findings from the Leeds inquiry into Infant Deaths
reported by Hobbs, Wynne and Gellethe (1995), in the
second paper of this Special Issue, support the observations
made by Greenland and confirm that abuse and neglect are 'Abuse and neglect
important associated factors with sudden infant death.
The perpetrators for the Canadian sample followed the are important
pattern seen in Great Britain and Australia, with natural associatedfactors
fathers responsible for a quarter of the deaths, mothers for
over a third, step-father or cohabitee for another quarter and
with sudden infant
babysitters, ranging in age from 12 to 40 years, for the death'
remainder . Again, teenage parents were over presented.
Alfaro (1991) reviews nine U.S . studies on `child abuse
fatalities and confirms that those associated characteristics
seen in Britain, Australia and Canada are also commonly
observed in the USA. The characteristics, which may be
regarded as risk factors for fatal child abuse, have been
outlined in Table 2. Greenland (1987) states that fatal abuse
incidents `are almost invariably, situationally specific events.
Ill health or excessively demanding behaviour in the child,
maternal distress or depression, an unstable or unhelpful
male partner, when combined with social isolation, poverty
and poor housing, may precipitate a perilous or lethal family
situation . The infant's powerlessness and inability to escape
31 4 Browne & Lynch
Table 2. Risk Factors for Fatal Child Abuse and Neglect
1. Child under five years of age.
2. Child suffering from non-organic failure to thrive .
3. History of abuse or unexplained injuries to a child in the family .
4. Spousal violence or discord in family .
5. Caregiver suffers from psychiatric illness or psychological disorder .
6. Caregiver excessively uses alcohol or illicit drugs.
7. Caregiver under stress and/or poverty (eg: unemployment or criminal
activities in the family).
8. Caregiver young and inexperienced .

defines him as a victim' (p 20). The need to learn from these

unfortunate cases is emphasized by Richard White, who
gives his perspective on child death reviews in this Issue .
This is followed by an article in which Durfee and Tilton-
Durfee describe the evolution of Child Death Review Teams
in the United States .
The study of child abuse and child homicide has been
based on the often implicit assumption that there is a
continuum of violence ranging from mild physical punish-
ment to severe abuse and homicide. Empirical data support-
ing this assumption are sparse (Gelles, 1991) . Biological
explanations of child killings have been put forward (eg:
Daly and Wilson, 1985; 1987) highlighting the fact that child
homicide is most often committed by non-genetically related
step-parents or cohabitees. Gelles claims that child homicide
is not simply an extreme form of child abuse but a distinct
form of behaviour that requires separate explanations .
`The relationship The relationship between child homicides and child abuse
is complex. Homicide is a well defined act while child abuse
between child is usually seen as a process, which if unchecked can
homicides and occasionally end in death. Most abused and neglected
child abuse is children suffer harm from exposure to continuing distorted
family interactions, not just from isolated or sequential acts
complex' of physical violence . Nevertheless, it is usually an observa-
tion made about the child which results in the activation of
the child protection system . This should lead on to an
assessment not only of risks to the child but also the needs of
the whole family . Distorted family relationships can come to
notice in other ways, for example: domestic violence, vicious
custody or access disputes, psychiatric illness and chemical
dependency in a parent . Sometimes the implications of such
disturbances in the caregiver, for the welfare and safety of
the child, are not necessarily sufficiently considered .
Concern over the links between parental mental health
and fatal child abuse has led to DOH sponsored research .
The findings of this research will be published in Child
Abuse Review (Vol 5) next year . They confirm the need to
improve interaction between adult mental services and
children's services. Given that the killing of a child by a
carer is likely to have been preceded by a distortion in family
relationships, attention needs to be given to how primary
care health workers and others working with children and
family can identify early signs of disturbance, and initiate
interventions that give high priority to the needs of the child.
The contribution training can make is considered in this
Special Issue in the article "multidisciplinary training
following a local death enquiry" by Lawson, Masson and
Milner and further in the invited comments of Jan Horwath.

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Street Children at risk in Kenya

Letter to On 11 August 1994 a street boy Simeon Kanampiu Kamande was

shot dead by a police reservist Avinderjit Singh Chadha in Ngara,
the Editors a low income area of Nairobi . Chadha was charged and, after a
highly publicized trial, acquitted in Court.
Simeon Kanampiu Kamande was shot after he stole a sidelight
indicator from a car and fled from the scene. He was chased by
Chadha. The police reservist said the victim had pulled a knife on
him and tried to attack him. So he had shot and killed in self
defence.
This killing and the acquittal could become a dangerous
precedent for the start of a process of social cleansing. Social
cleansing murders by law enforcement officials are prevalent in
Brazil and Colombia . We in Kenya are in danger of unleashing
violence against children on the scale prevalent in South America,
and should make every effort to stop it before such a process starts,
let alone reaches the same endemic proportions.
The danger is real. The same police reservist admitted in court
that he had previously killed five other street persons. Then very
soon after the judgment in March 1995 in the Kamande case, on 1
April 1995, another streetboy Nahashon Chege, died in a police