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Filicide, the killing of a child by a parent, is the focus of this meta-study. In the United States, the total number of nonaccidental deaths of children at the hands of a parent is unknown. Five children a day under the age of five die from fatal abuse and neglect (U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1995). This number is a conservative estimate and does not include children kill by means other than abuse and neglect. Regardless of the number, this author views each filicide as a sentinel event for the United States and the world. A sentinel event is an unexpected occurrence involving death and signals the need for immediate investigation and response. The perspectives of social constructionism and role theory frame this meta-study. The author explored six questions of the extant filicide research: What is the research knowledge on filicide? How is filicide constructed in the research discourse and what is the context of this research? Is filicide constructed as a social problem? Can the use of role theory advance our understanding of filicide? Are there common themes in the filicide research findings? Is there disagreement in the research? What is missing, assumed, or overlooked in the research? The sample consisted of 66 international studies of parents (i.e., genetic, step, foster, person in role of parent) who killed their child(ren) from 1969 to 2009. Major findings include "meta-categories" of filicide research, risk factors, salient themes, and new conceptualization of filicide based on role theory. Individual, social, and structural variables to identify and prevent filicide are presented. An outline for educating practitioners and a tool for screening families for filicide risk are offered
ContributorsJackson, Diane (Author) / Gillmore, Mary R (Thesis advisor) / Aguilar, Jemel P (Committee member) / Gustavsson, Nora S. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011