Adopted children who kill their adoptive parents.
Adolescent
Adult
Adult Children
/ psychology
Aged
Australia
Canada
Child, Adopted
/ psychology
Crime Victims
Criminals
/ psychology
Databases, Factual
England
Female
Homicide
/ psychology
Humans
Law Enforcement
Male
Middle Aged
Motivation
Object Attachment
Parents
Reactive Attachment Disorder
/ psychology
United States
Wales
Young Adult
Journal
Behavioral sciences & the law
ISSN: 1099-0798
Titre abrégé: Behav Sci Law
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 8404861
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Sep 2019
Sep 2019
Historique:
received:
04
04
2019
revised:
28
05
2019
accepted:
08
06
2019
pubmed:
30
8
2019
medline:
31
3
2020
entrez:
30
8
2019
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
The killing of parents, frequently referred to as parricide, is a disturbing phenomenon that often generates widespread media coverage. Most of the scholarly literature on this topic has focused on biological offspring who kill mothers and fathers. Some analyses have examined juveniles and adults who kill their stepparents. To date, virtually no research exists on children who kill their adoptive parents because this type of victim-offender relationship has been absent from available homicide databases, thereby preventing such analyses. The present study is a content analysis of news reports of 46 cases of adopted children who killed their adoptive parents in several different countries. Data pertaining to offender and victim demographics, incident characteristics, and the processing of offenders from the initial charge through conviction and sentencing are examined. To the extent possible, media accounts are used to classify cases according to motives or circumstances leading to the killings. The article concludes with a comparison of profiles of children who kill adoptive parents in relation to those who kill biological parents, important observations that emerged from these news accounts, and discussion of possible explanations of parricide by adopted children, including adopted children syndrome, reactive attachment disorder, and biological risk factors. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are addressed.
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
473-492Informations de copyright
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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