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Child Homicide Spectrum FREE

Janine Jason, MD
[+] Author Affiliations

Reprint requests to Office of the Director, Center for Health Promotion and Education, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333 (Dr Jason).


Am J Dis Child. 1983;137(6):578-581. doi:10.1001/archpedi.1983.02140320054012.
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• Violence toward children is an acknowledged pediatric problem, but physicians may not be aware that it is a leading cause of pediatric mortality. Therefore, I used homicide data for persons younger than 18 years of age to characterize child homicide. There are two broad categories: The first predominates until the victim age of 3 years, is intrafamilial, and is associated with bodily force and poorly defined precipitating events. It might be described as fatal child abuse. The second type predominates after the victim age of 12 years, is extrafamilial, involves guns or knives, occurs during arguments or criminal acts by the offender, and may represent children unsupervised in an adult environment. Homicides that occur in children between 3 and 12 years of age are a mixture of these two types.

(Am J Dis Child 1983;137:578-581)

REFERENCES

Monthly Vital Statistics . Hyattsville, Md, National Center for Health Statistics, 1980;, vol 29, No. (6) , suppl 2, p 23.
World Health Statistics Annual Yearbook . Berne, Switzerland, World Health Organization, 1981;.
Adelson L:  Slaughter of the innocents . N Engl J Med 1961;;264:1345-1349.
Link to Article
Luke JL, Lyons MM, Devlin JF:  Pediatric forensic pathology: I. Death by homicide . J Forensic Sci 1967;;12:421-430.
Myers SA:  Maternal filicide . Am J Dis Child 1970;;120:534-536.
Scott PD:  Fatal battered baby cases . Med Sci Law 1973;;13:197-206.
Bender L:  Psychiatric mechanisms in child murders . J Nerv Ment Dis 1934;;80:32-47.
Link to Article
Anthony EJ:  A group of murderous mothers . Acta Psychother Psychosom 1959;;7( (suppl) ): 1-6.
Link to Article
Harder T:  The psychopathology of infanticide . Acta Psychiatr Scand 1967;;43:196-245.
Link to Article
Myers SA:  The child slayer: A 25-year survey of homicide involving preadolescent victims . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1967;;17:211-213.
Link to Article
Resnick PJ:  Child murder by parents: A psychiatric review of filicide . Am J Psychiatry 1969;;126:325-334.
Rodenburg M:  Child murder by depressed parent . Can J Psychiatry 1971;;16:41-48.
Arboleda-Florez J:  Infanticide: Some medicolegal considerations . Can J Psychiatry 1975;; 20:55-60.
D'Orban PT:  Women who kill their children . Br J Psychiatry 1979;;134:560-571.
Link to Article
Kaplun D, Reich R:  The murdered child and his killers . Am J Psychiatry 1980;;133: 809-813.
Fein LG:  Can child fatalities, end product of abuse, be prevented? Child Youth Serv Rev 1979;;1:31-53.
Link to Article
Trexler RC:  Infanticide in Florence: New sources and first results . Hist Child Q 1973;;1: 98-116.
Langer WL:  Infanticide: A historical survey . Hist Child Q 1974;;1:353-366.
Hanawalt BA:  Childrearing among the lower classes of late medieval England . J Interdisciplinary Hist 1977;;8:1-22.
Link to Article
Dumme C:  Infanticide: The worth of the infant under law . Med Hist 1978;;22:1-24.
Link to Article
Behlmer GR:  Deadly motherhood: Infanticide and medical opinion in mid-Victorian England . J Hist Med Allied Sci 1979;;34:403-427.
Link to Article
Resnick PJ:  Murder of the newborn: A psychiatric review of neonaticide . Am J Psychiatry 1970;;176:1414-1420.
Grozovsky M, Falit H:  Neonaticide . J Am Acad Child Psychiatry 1971;;10:673-683.
Link to Article
Arboleda-Florez J:  Neonaticide . Can J Psychiatry 1976;;21:31-34.
Evans P:  Infanticide . Proc R Soc Med 1968;;61:36-38.
Scott PD:  Parents who kill their children . Med Sci Law 1973;;13:120-126.
Christoffel KK, Liu K, Stamler J:  Epidemiology of fatal child abuse: International mortality data . J Chronic Dis 1981;;34:57-64.
Link to Article
 Federal Bureau of Investigation—Uniform Crime Reports : Crime in the United States 1979 , US Dept of Justice, 1980;.
Current Population Estimates , Series P-25, No. 870. Washington, DC, US Bureau of the Census, 1980;.
Current Population Reports , Series P-20, No. 338. Washington, DC, US Bureau of the Census, 1979;.
Freund JE: Mathematical Statistics . Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall Inc, 1962;.
National Study of the Incidence and Severity of Child Abuse and Neglect , US Dept of Health and Human Services publication 81-30325, 1981;.
Riedel M: Nature and Patterns of American Homicide , US Dept of Justice, 1982;.
Helpern M:  Fatalities from child abuse and neglect: Responsibility of the medical examiner and coroner . Pediatr Ann 1976;;5:42-57.
Knight B:  Forensic problems in practice: IX. Infant deaths . Practitioner 1976;;217:444-448.
Zumwalt RE, Hirsch CS:  Subtle fatal child abuse . Hum Pathol 1980;;11:167-174.
Link to Article
National Analysis of Official Child Neglect and Abuse Reporting . Denver, American Humane Association, 1978;.
Jason J, Andereck N: Fatal child abuse in Georgia: The epidemiology of severe physical child abuse. Child Abuse Neglect Int J, in press.
Jason J, Flock M, Tyler CW: Primary homicide in the United States. Am J Epidemiol, in press.

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Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

References

Monthly Vital Statistics . Hyattsville, Md, National Center for Health Statistics, 1980;, vol 29, No. (6) , suppl 2, p 23.
World Health Statistics Annual Yearbook . Berne, Switzerland, World Health Organization, 1981;.
Adelson L:  Slaughter of the innocents . N Engl J Med 1961;;264:1345-1349.
Link to Article
Luke JL, Lyons MM, Devlin JF:  Pediatric forensic pathology: I. Death by homicide . J Forensic Sci 1967;;12:421-430.
Myers SA:  Maternal filicide . Am J Dis Child 1970;;120:534-536.
Scott PD:  Fatal battered baby cases . Med Sci Law 1973;;13:197-206.
Bender L:  Psychiatric mechanisms in child murders . J Nerv Ment Dis 1934;;80:32-47.
Link to Article
Anthony EJ:  A group of murderous mothers . Acta Psychother Psychosom 1959;;7( (suppl) ): 1-6.
Link to Article
Harder T:  The psychopathology of infanticide . Acta Psychiatr Scand 1967;;43:196-245.
Link to Article
Myers SA:  The child slayer: A 25-year survey of homicide involving preadolescent victims . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1967;;17:211-213.
Link to Article
Resnick PJ:  Child murder by parents: A psychiatric review of filicide . Am J Psychiatry 1969;;126:325-334.
Rodenburg M:  Child murder by depressed parent . Can J Psychiatry 1971;;16:41-48.
Arboleda-Florez J:  Infanticide: Some medicolegal considerations . Can J Psychiatry 1975;; 20:55-60.
D'Orban PT:  Women who kill their children . Br J Psychiatry 1979;;134:560-571.
Link to Article
Kaplun D, Reich R:  The murdered child and his killers . Am J Psychiatry 1980;;133: 809-813.
Fein LG:  Can child fatalities, end product of abuse, be prevented? Child Youth Serv Rev 1979;;1:31-53.
Link to Article
Trexler RC:  Infanticide in Florence: New sources and first results . Hist Child Q 1973;;1: 98-116.
Langer WL:  Infanticide: A historical survey . Hist Child Q 1974;;1:353-366.
Hanawalt BA:  Childrearing among the lower classes of late medieval England . J Interdisciplinary Hist 1977;;8:1-22.
Link to Article
Dumme C:  Infanticide: The worth of the infant under law . Med Hist 1978;;22:1-24.
Link to Article
Behlmer GR:  Deadly motherhood: Infanticide and medical opinion in mid-Victorian England . J Hist Med Allied Sci 1979;;34:403-427.
Link to Article
Resnick PJ:  Murder of the newborn: A psychiatric review of neonaticide . Am J Psychiatry 1970;;176:1414-1420.
Grozovsky M, Falit H:  Neonaticide . J Am Acad Child Psychiatry 1971;;10:673-683.
Link to Article
Arboleda-Florez J:  Neonaticide . Can J Psychiatry 1976;;21:31-34.
Evans P:  Infanticide . Proc R Soc Med 1968;;61:36-38.
Scott PD:  Parents who kill their children . Med Sci Law 1973;;13:120-126.
Christoffel KK, Liu K, Stamler J:  Epidemiology of fatal child abuse: International mortality data . J Chronic Dis 1981;;34:57-64.
Link to Article
 Federal Bureau of Investigation—Uniform Crime Reports : Crime in the United States 1979 , US Dept of Justice, 1980;.
Current Population Estimates , Series P-25, No. 870. Washington, DC, US Bureau of the Census, 1980;.
Current Population Reports , Series P-20, No. 338. Washington, DC, US Bureau of the Census, 1979;.
Freund JE: Mathematical Statistics . Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall Inc, 1962;.
National Study of the Incidence and Severity of Child Abuse and Neglect , US Dept of Health and Human Services publication 81-30325, 1981;.
Riedel M: Nature and Patterns of American Homicide , US Dept of Justice, 1982;.
Helpern M:  Fatalities from child abuse and neglect: Responsibility of the medical examiner and coroner . Pediatr Ann 1976;;5:42-57.
Knight B:  Forensic problems in practice: IX. Infant deaths . Practitioner 1976;;217:444-448.
Zumwalt RE, Hirsch CS:  Subtle fatal child abuse . Hum Pathol 1980;;11:167-174.
Link to Article
National Analysis of Official Child Neglect and Abuse Reporting . Denver, American Humane Association, 1978;.
Jason J, Andereck N: Fatal child abuse in Georgia: The epidemiology of severe physical child abuse. Child Abuse Neglect Int J, in press.
Jason J, Flock M, Tyler CW: Primary homicide in the United States. Am J Epidemiol, in press.

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