Understanding fatal assault of children: a typology and explanatory theory

www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth

Children and Youth Services Review

26 (2004) 837–852

Understanding fatal assault of children:

a typology and explanatory theory

Ruth Lawrence

Commission for Children and Young People, Level 2, 407 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010, Australia

Available online 27 March 2004

Abstract

Fatal child assault, the deaths of children caused by the violent actions of another person, is the

subject of this article. It is argued that the definition of the problem, its size and scope, is

dependent on administrative social and legal categories. These phenomena encompass a range of

situations. Although a child dies from violence in each incident, the social context within which

these incidents occur is diverse. A typology of child fatal assaults is developed based on the

research literature. Diverse explanatory theories have been offered to account for the problem of

fatal assault of children. These paradigms concentrate on different aspects of the problem including

the perpetrator (and their mental state or gender), the incident itself, and the social context of the

incident (familial or not). It is argued that conceptualisation of the problem and the assumptions in

the accompanying paradigm must be made explicit before discussion of this social problem can

begin.

D 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Typology and explanatory theory; Fatal child assault; Child homicide

1. Introduction

Although rare, the deaths of children caused by the violent actions of another person,

are sentinel events that command community attention.1 Although there are fewer

0190-7409/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2004.02.024

E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Lawrence).1 The deaths of children who are under the care of state child welfare services are seen as sentinel events,

that is, events which trigger serious review of agency policy and procedures (Courtney, 1993). In this paper it is

argued that a broader category—all child deaths from violence—are also sentinel events, which should trigger

serious social reflection regarding social policy for children.

R. Lawrence / Children and Youth Services Review 26 (2004) 837–852838

children affected by this social problem compared with other more prevalent problems,

fatal assault deserves careful analysis on human rights grounds and on the grounds of

critical social research.

The death of every child should receive at least the same attention as the death of an

adult. Social research leading to prevention is morally justified on the basis that every

child is seen to have ‘an inherent right to life’, and states are to ‘protect the child from

all forms of physical. . .violence’ (Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article, 6 and

19). Further, as an emotionally charged area where community perceptions are likely to

be distorted and press coverage has been found to be uneven (Sorenson, Manz & Berk,

1998), it is even more important to have an accurate account of the phenomenon. A

conceptualisation of the problem is most usefully based on research findings. This article

offers an overview of the problem and a critique of the conceptualisation of this social

problem.

The article begins by defining child fatal assault, and the size and scope of this problem.

The diverse nature of the phenomenon is presented in a typology that is constructed from a

review of research findings. Lastly, major explanatory theories, which have been offered to

account for the phenomenon, are presented.

1.1. Defining the problem

Child fatal assault in this article is defined as the death of a child from acts of

violence perpetrated upon him or her by another person. In contrast to some legal

categories, the perpetrator’s intention in this definition is not relevant: the definition

includes violence leading to the child’s death even though the perpetrator may not have

intended the outcome as well as incidents where the perpetrator used violence with the

intention of killing the child. The child’s death from violence is the starting point in this

definition, rather than identification of a perpetrator, their legal status or intention in the

fatal incident.

1.2. Definition of ‘child’

The definition of ‘child’ has a crucial bearing on what is defined as child fatal assault

and hence how it is conceptualised within explanatory theory. Because of the develop-

mental phases of children, from total dependency in infancy to an increasing social realm

and evolving independence, the child’s social context varies according to the age

definition given.

There are various social and legal definitions of ‘child’. Studies of child fatal assault

have variously defined ‘child’ according to age ranges from 0 to 4 years (Nixon, Pearn,

Wilkey & Petrie, 1981), 0 to 5 years (Wallace, 1986), 0 to 10 years (Gallagher, Nguyen

Da Huong & Bonney, 1994), 0 to 14 years (NSW Child Protection Council, 1995;

Strang, 1996; Mouzos, 2000), or 0 to 17 years (Donnelly, Cumines & Wilczynski,

1995). The age range chosen determines whether the fatal assaults are predominantly

familial, as in the younger age groups, or whether extrafamilial killings of older children

are also included (see Jason, 1983). As the types of fatal assault vary according to the

age of the child, a developmental theory of fatal assault acknowledges the importance of

R. Lawrence / Children and Youth Services Review 26 (2004) 837–852 839

the developmental phases of children in shaping the phenomenon (see Lawrence &

Fattore, forthcoming). Crittenden and Craig (1990) present ‘developmental trends’ in

child homicide, identifying four distinct developmental age groups, neonatal, infancy

(0–2 years), pre-school (3–5 years) and middle childhood (6–12 years). Lawrence and

Fattore (forthcoming) similarly identify infancy, toddlers (1–4 years), middle childhood

and teenagers (13–17 years).

In contrast to research on child killings which encompass the age range of childhood,

some analyses have been restricted to a phenomenon that is unique to an age range, such

as neonaticide (killing of a baby within 24 h after the birth; Wallace, 1986) or infanticide

(in NSW legislation a woman who kills her child under the age of 12 months;

Lansdowne, 1990; Donnelly et al., 1995). For the purposes of this article, literature is

included which encompasses the developmental phases of a child or young person from

0 to 17 years.2

2. Measuring the size of the problem

If child fatal assault is defined as the death of a child (from birth to 17 years of age)

from acts of violence perpetrated upon him or her by another person, how can the problem

be measured?

2.1. Administrative processes

Child assault deaths are defined according to administrative legal, medical and social

processes, and each of these processes yield different estimates of the size of the

problem.

When a child dies from suspected assault, or in suspicious circumstances, each country

and jurisdiction has a unique system of legal, medical and social processes that come into

play. Police, child welfare services, health agencies, and the State Coroner may become

involved with accompanying legal, medical and forensic processes. Additionally, in some

jurisdictions—including many states of the USA and New South Wales—specialist child

death review teams conduct an in-depth review of the death (Durfee, Durfee & West,

2002).

Each legal and social process has a specific focus and purpose. The group of cases

examined varies according to these administrative processes, and studies of fatal child

assaults mirror these processes. The administrative processes can be conceptualised

according to a spectrum of one aspect of these processes – legal evidence. At one end

of the spectrum (Fig. 1) there is the most stringent standard of legal evidence, which

results in a conviction of child murder or manslaughter. The defining characteristic of

these child deaths is the legal status of the perpetrator. Depending on the circumstances of

the event, fatal assault is classified within the law as manslaughter, murder, justifiable

homicide or infanticide.

2 New South Wales legislation (NSW, 1998), specifies children and young people to be 0–17 years of age.

Fig. 1. Child fatal assault cases defined by degree of evidence.


Legal and criminological studies of ‘criminal homicide’ (Wolfgang, 1958) and

‘sentenced homicides’ (Donnelly et al., 1995) include research on criminal justice

issues and sentencing. There are, however, difficulties in making meaningful compar-

isons across jurisdictions based on the legal system’s classification of the fatal

incident. Although attempts have been made to compare international child fatality

data (using UNICEF data for example) and child homicide rates (Fiala & LaFree,

1988), different countries have different definitions of what constitutes a criminal act

in these circumstances. In some jurisdictions, for example, malicious intention is

required, while in others it is not (US Department of Health and Human Services,

1999).

At the other end of the spectrum of fatal child assault there is a less stringent

standard of evidence. The defining characteristic of this group of cases is not the legal

definition of a criminal offence, but rather the victim child who dies from assault.

Studies of these cases are more inclusive and include analyses of the deaths of children

in ‘suspicious circumstances’ (Hicks & Gaughan, 1995; Herman-Giddens, 1999) and

deaths where there is ‘definite’, ‘probable’, and ‘possible maltreatment’ (Ewigman,

Kivlahan & Land, 1993). These studies often focus on the prevention of further child

deaths, although a perpetrator may not be able to be identified or charged. Studies of

fatal child abuse include the monitoring and analysis work of child fatality review

teams in the US and child homicide inquests in Britain (Hill, 1990) and Canada

(Longlade, 1999).

2.2. Undercounting

Criticism has been made of attempts to use official administrative data to measure child

deaths from assault. By nature of the administrative purpose of the data, police, vital

statistics or criminal data will define a more narrow population of cases than all child

deaths from assault. As cause of death is prescribed by medical and legal processes in


these data sets, the social circumstances of the death may not come into play in

determination of the cause of death.

It has been internationally recognised that some child deaths are not recorded as fatal

assaults or homicides in official statistics, because the cause of death is not detected and/or

the death is misclassified. Lindsey and Trocme (1994) and Lindsey (1994) argue that vital

statistics data are not reliable or valid, and comparison of vital statistics and child welfare

statistics in some US states show different numbers of deaths due to abuse and neglect

(Child Abuse and Neglect Surveillance Program, 2001). Problems in the detection and

classification of assault deaths have been highlighted, noting that the cause of death may

not be apparent, especially for infants less than one year of age. Other deaths may also

escape detection and be noted in the wrong category, such as falls. Several studies analyse

under-reporting: Herman-Giddens (1999) attempts to quantify the amount ‘child abuse

homicides’ are under-reported, while Ewigman, Kivlahan and Land (1993) study under-

reporting in Missouri by the level of evidence available.

In Australia, information about the number of deaths from child abuse and neglect is

not consistently collected across jurisdictions. In Australia, for infants less than one year of

age, the largest cause of death after natural causes is ‘sudden death, cause unknown’ ABS

category 798 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999). As with the data from the United

States, a small proportion of these deaths may be deliberately inflicted (Strang, 1996;

Mouzos, 2000). In New South Wales the deaths of infants are reviewed by the NSW Child

Death Review Team. It is recognised by this Team that the numbers of deaths that are

reported by the Team as due to fatal assault or neglect will not necessarily accord with

other official statistics, such as Australian Bureau of Statistics data (Australian Bureau of

Statistics, 1999; Child Death Review Team, 2000). With these caveats in mind, using

official data the size of the problem in Australia will be examined.

2.3. Police homicide statistics

Official police data on recorded homicides in Australia, show that homicide across the

population is a rare event with 1.6 deaths per 100 000 population (Australian Bureau of

Statistics, 1999). Child homicide, as recorded in police data, is also a rare occurrence, with

only 8.6% of homicides in Australia involving children 0–14 years of age (while this age

group makes up approximately 21% of the population; Australian Bureau of Statistics,

1998). The incident rates for each age group from birth to 17 years of age are shown in

Fig. 2, which shows the number of police records of homicide (Strang, 1996; Mouzos,

2000). A total of 316 children were killed over the 10-year period from 1989 to 1999, with

between 25 and 39 children (0–14 years of age) being homicide victims each year in

Australia (Mouzos, 2000). The Australian child homicide rate has been relatively stable

over a 10-year period, in contrast to a steady increase in the US child homicide rate since

1960 (Chew, McCleary, Lew & Wang, 1999).

2.4. Victim age and gender trends

Distinct age and gender trends have been found in Australian and international studies

of victims of homicide, non-accidental injury and fatal child abuse. Between birth and 17

Fig. 2. Average incident rates 1989–1999: Police reported child homicide victims 0–17 years old. Published with

permission from the Australian Institute of Criminology; National Homicide Monitoring Project, Mouzos, 2000.


years of age, two age periods are of greatest risk—babies and older teenagers (Wallace,

1986; Donnelly et al., 1995; Chew et al., 1999; Mouzos, 2000; Lawrence & Fattore,

forthcoming).

For children and young people 0–17 years of age, it is the under 1 year olds who are

most at risk. In Australia, the rate is 2.68 deaths per 100 000 population in this age

group. For females, this is the highest rate across the entire life-course spectrum

(Mouzos, 2000).

The next highest rate in childhood is for older teenagers 15–17 years of age (1.41 per

100 000). However, distinct gender trends are apparent. Male adolescents have a higher

rate than female adolescents (1.72 compared to 1.09 per 100 000). These adolescent

gender trends are the beginning of differences in adult rates of homicide, which for males

peaks at 24–26 years of age, and for females peaks at 21–23 years of age (although this is

not as high as the female infant rate) (Mouzos, 2000).

In the second section of this article a typology of child fatal assaults is presented which

highlights the diversity of these incidents. Research literature is included that covers the

full spectrum of studies–research on the small population of convicted cases as well as the

larger population of ‘suspicious’ child deaths due to non-accidental injury. These studies

include research on child homicide, child murder, fatal child abuse and deaths of children

from non-accidental injuries.

3. A typology of fatal assaults of children

Although the child’s death from assault is the basis of classification of this group,

fatal assault is a heterogenous class of events that includes distinct types. There are

many parameters that change the social meaning of the event, including: the age of the

child, the relationship of the child to the perpetrator, the intent of the perpetrator, and the

circumstances surrounding the incident. A repeated finding in the research literature has

been that there are distinct types of fatal assault that follow an identified pattern or

profile. From review of the literature, a typology of child fatal assault has been


constructed. This typology is empirically based. If different types of fatal assault become

evident in the future the typology will need to be revised to account for new forms of

this social problem.

The typology classifies the deaths into common groups or types of incidents. Some

characteristics of the type of death may vary according to the cultural context. For

example, the pattern of neonaticide is recognised internationally. However, the mechanism

of death varies according to the cultural context and includes infants being thrown from

high-rise buildings in Hong Kong (Cheung, 1986), being placed in the woods in winter in

Sweden (Somander & Rammer, 1991), being placed in a locker (‘coin-operated locker

babies’) in Japan (Kouno & Johnson, 1995), and being placed in the swamp in Fiji

(Adinkrah, 2000). Although variations in the method of death exist, the fatal assault type

of neonaticide is recognised in these different contexts.

Several major types of fatal assault have been found repeatedly in research studies.

Six different types of fatal assault were identified: neonaticide, fatal ‘child abuse’,

psychiatric illness of the perpetrator, family breakdown, fatal sexual assault, and teen

fatal assault. The classification into types of assault is based on the scenario around the

child’s death. For example, deaths are classified as family dispute if family conflict is

the precipitating factor in the incident surrounding the death. Although other social

problems, such as mental health problems or child abuse may coexist in the family, the

child’s death is triggered by family breakdown. Social problems may overlap in the

categories, but the deaths are classified into types of assault based on the circumstances

surrounding the child’s death, and there are common patterns in the deaths that are

classified into each category.

The six categories of fatal assault can be further differentiated according to whether the

deaths occur within a family context.

3.1. Familial vs. non-familial killings

Familial and non-familial child killings have been recognised internationally (Jason,

1983; Crittenden & Craig, 1990; Somander & Rammer, 1991; Gallagher et al., 1994;

Chew et al., 1999; Lawrence & Fattore, forthcoming). Whether the fatal assault occurs

within the family is dependent on the age of the child and the category of assault.

Younger children are victims of fatal assault in the family: nearly all children under 14

years of age are killed by people known to them (4% of these child homicides were

perpetrated by ‘strangers’; Strang, 1996); and the vast majority of young children who

are victims of homicide are killed by family members (81% of victims 0–10 years of

age; Gallagher et al., 1994; and 87% of victims 0–5 years of age; Wallace, 1986).

Additionally, certain types of child deaths only occur within the family. Neonaticide and

infanticide, are by definition, only carried out by the child’s biological mother (see NSW

Law Reform Commission, 1993). In the case of non-accidental injury a parent or

caretaker within the family is the perpetrator, while for family breakdown a parent is the

perpetrator.

In contrast to the deaths of younger children, the majority of deaths of teenagers do not

involve parents or caretakers. Most deaths of teenagers are non-familial and involve

friends, acquaintances or strangers.


3.2. Neonaticide

Neonaticide is a rare event (3% of 0–14 year old homicides Strang, 1996), which

involves the killing of a baby by her or his mother within the first 24 h of birth

(Wallace, 1986). The typical scenario involves a mother who is young, single and poor

with an unwanted pregnancy (Adinkrah, 2000). Typically, the mother denies the

pregnancy and conceals the pregnancy and the birth. Despite the lessening of the

stigma of illegitimacy, this phenomenon still occurs. It has been argued that these

mothers are typically distressed or in shock following the child’s birth (Wallace, 1986)

but they are not ‘insane’, mentally ill or psychotic (Lansdowne, 1990). In cases of

neonaticide, it is often difficult for legal and forensic processes to establish the infant’s

cause of death, and to determine whether the child was in fact born alive (Wallace,

1986; Lansdowne, 1990).

3.3. Fatal child abuse, ‘battered baby’ or non-accidental injury

A recognised pattern of child homicides is fatal child abuse in which the child is

killed by one massive assault or a series of assaults over time. As Wallace (1986)

notes, children are punched, hit, kicked, shaken or thrown, resulting in injuries which

include ‘bruising, fractures, dislocations and ruptures’ (Wallace, 1986, p. 123), such as

subdural haematomas and retinal haemorrhages (De Silva & Oates, 1993). Children

may also be asphyxiated or strangled (De Silva & Oates, 1993). There are two major

patterns in these deaths: escalating physical violence (which accounts for the majority

of these types of deaths) and one-off assaults. Children less than one year of age are

particularly at risk (Nixon et al., 1981; Wallace, 1986; Gallagher et al., 1994). Some of

these infants are victims of ‘shaken baby syndrome’ (De Silva & Oates, 1993; Strang,

1996).

3.4. Family dispute and murder-suicide

‘Family dispute’ (Strang, 1996) or ‘domestic homicide’ (Hore, Gibson, & Bordow,

1996) is a category that includes cases of murder-suicide. In the family dispute

category, the termination of the parents’ relationship is usually involved, and the male

perpetrator reacts to a relationship breakdown with rage or depression, resulting in

multiple murders (often involving more than one child and the wife) and murder-

suicides (35% of 0–14 year old homicides were in this group; Strang, 1996). Over a

10-year period in Australia, 25% of offenders of child homicide (0–14 years)

committed suicide. It was usually the biological father who killed his own children

and then committed suicide after a relationship breakdown (Mouzos, 2000).

3.5. Psychiatric illness of offender

Some fatal child assaults are precipitated by the psychiatric illness of the suspect.

Stroud (1997) has argued that this category has not received sufficient attention by

professionals. In this category, Stroud’s extensive review found that the ages of the child


victims are distributed across the age span, rather than being concentrated in the under

ones age group (Stroud, 1997). Strang (1996) notes that 14% of homicides of 0–14 year

olds involve the offender’s psychiatric illness in what are usually bizarre deaths.

Fatality studies have often given attention to mental illness that occurs in the post-natal

period, including psychoses and depression. Some of the mothers who are perpetrators

have been shown to be suffering from severe depression (Wallace, 1986). In this group

there is a deliberate attempt to kill the child, the infant has not suffered prior physical

abuse, and at the time of the incident the mother is severely mentally disturbed. These

deliberate deaths include drownings, suffocations and stabbings (Wallace, 1986). Al-

though it is agreed that the mother suffers severe depression, it is not clear whether these

women have a pre-existing mental illness, which is triggered by childbirth, or if the mental

illness originates in the post-partum period. Wallace (1986) has drawn attention to other

social dimensions where severely depressed mothers kill their children, noting that many

of the women suffered multiple problems including poor health, lack of support, isolation,

and financial problems combined with caring for an unwell infant.

3.6. Fatal sexual assault

Fatal sexual assault, or sexual homicide, is killing that occurs after a sexual assault

(Wallace, 1986; Mouzos, 2000). It is often difficult to determine the occurrence of fatal

sexual assault as the crime is most often reported as a homicide rather than a sexual

assault, and conclusive evidence of the sexual assault may be inadequate or lacking

(Mouzos, 2000). Although there is scant information on this category, it has been

recognised as occurring in at least 9% of 0–14 year old homicides (Strang, 1996).

Children are disproportionately represented as victims in fatal sexual assaults; almost half

of the victims of all fatal sexual assaults were children 3–16 years of age (Wallace, 1986).

The typical scenario in these cases involved single perpetrators and single victims, young

men as perpetrators and females as victims, and particularly brutal physical attacks

(Wallace, 1986).

3.7. Teen fatal assault

As with neonaticide and infanticide, a specific age range is one of the distinguishing

features of this type of fatal assault. When teenagers are the victims of fatal assault, there is

again a distinct pattern in the assaults. Teen fatal assaults are not usually carried out by

parents, caretakers or family members (Finkelhor, 1997). These non-parental killings

resemble adult fatal assaults/homicides. In these incidents confrontational violence occurs

in the context of relationships with acquaintances, boyfriends and strangers and the vast

majority of the assaults are carried out by males perpetrators (Donnelly et al., 1995).

4. Explanatory theories of child fatal assault

Why does fatal assault of children occur? Different theoretical perspectives have

offered explanations. Explanatory paradigms have arisen within the fields of criminal,


legal, medical, public health, psychological, and sociological research. Each paradigm

offers an explanation at varying levels of abstraction from the immediate incident.

Radiating out from the child, theories encompass the fatal incident, the family, the

perpetrator and his or her relevant characteristics, the victim–perpetrator relationship,

and the social context of the incident (including the gender, social class, and socio-cultural

dimensions). As well as operating at different levels of explanation, different theories

account for different types of fatal assault.

4.1. Childhood and fatal assault

Although deaths from violence occur across the population age span, child fatal assault

is qualitatively different from adult homicide. The relevance of childhood to the

phenomenon has not received the attention that it warrants in explanatory theories. There

are particular characteristics of children as a group that are relevant to explanatory theories

of this phenomenon.

The developmental stages of children follow a path where physical, social and

emotional characteristics are increasingly developed and evolve over time. These

characteristics and the child’s changing social context is relevant to explanations of

assault. Consider the example of infants. Biologically, infants are more physically

vulnerable, so based on this characteristic alone, for infants, violent acts are more

likely to have fatal results. Further, infants with particular characteristics may have

increased physical vulnerability, such as infants who are premature, disabled, sick or

suffering from drug-withdrawal. The particular characteristics of the victim child and

the child’s behaviour have been seen to be part of the precipitating circumstances in

some types of fatal assault. In fatal child abuse, for example, the perpetrator may cite

the infant’s crying as the final catalyst that led to violence that killed the child

(Wallace, 1986).

Developmental trends in the nature of child homicide are recognised by several

authors (Jason, 1983; Christoffel, Anzinger & Amari, 1983; Christoffel, 1984; Abel,

1986; Crittenden & Craig, 1990; Finkelhor, 1997). Age is seen as a risk factor for fatal

assault. As an explanatory theory, culturally, age may define children’s status and role

within the social grouping and as explained in the example of infants, differences in

status and role may expose children to different types of risk. Developmentally, age

may determine the range of assaults and perpetrators a child may be subject to. For

instance, infants may be abandoned (infanticide) or fatally shaken by a caregiver;

deaths in early childhood include fatal child abuse within the family; deaths in middle

childhood include deaths carried out by a biological parent in the context of family

breakdown or the perpetrator’s mental illness; while the deaths of teens are predom-

inantly carried out by peers (Lawrence and Fattore, forthcoming).

4.2. Fatal assault as a family problem

Part of the social context of fatal assault of children is the family. In recognising

that violent behaviour can occur within this social institution, there has been a search

for the causes of violence within the family. This has included theories of social


isolation, poor access to economic resources, and gender relations within the family

(outlined further in the following sections). Part of the explanatory analysis of the

family as a social institution must recognise the status of children within the family

as dependent, and the dominant social structure of caregiving in society.

For infants, for example, their social context and the structure of parenting is relevant

in an analysis of fatal assaults. Caregiving of an infant in most cases takes the form of

an infant being primarily dependent on one caregiver (usually the mother). Care of the

infant is usually a solitary affair—it is not usually shared between several adults, or

multiple adults at one time. The ramification of this child-rearing structure, is that infants

who are dependent on a caregiver who has problems are exposed to these problems or in

the extreme case the child’s life is endangered. In the absence of social support, the

solitary nature of child-rearing also means that there is often only one adult (potential

perpetrator) present with the infant.

Crittenden and Craig (1990), in their developmental theory of child killings,

consider the social spheres of children of different ages to account for the pattern

in homicides. Infants spend the majority of their time in the care of their parents,

especially their mothers. When they start school, pre-school and kindergarten children

spend a greater proportion of time away from their parents. In another developmental

transition, older children and teenagers enter the social sphere outside the home and

school, with peer relations becoming increasingly important.

4.3. Fatal assault as extreme child abuse

One type of child fatal assault is where violence occurs within the family context and

the parent or caretaker does not have mental health problems and there is not family

breakdown. There is a well-developed body of literature on child abuse and non-

accidental injury is one form of abuse. It is not clear whether child abuse incidents

which are fatal are qualitatively different from less severe forms of child abuse. One

hypothesis is that physical child abuse occurs as a recurrent event with escalating severity

of injury, and with the fatal outcome as the most severe form. This pattern appears to hold

for some cases (Crittenden & Craig, 1990; Strang, 1996). However, there are also

examples of one-off incidents, particularly for babies (including ‘shaken babies’). One-

off incidents are seen to be the result of caretaker anger and frustration, which manifests

itself in a sudden impulsive event (Strang, 1996). It is not clear whether one-off incidents

are the same as on-going abuse. In some instances the one-off severe abuse resulted in a

fatal outcome because of the age of the child, ‘the physical vulnerability and the particular

location and force of the blows’ (Crittenden & Craig, 1990).

The literature on fatal cases and non-fatal cases of child abuse has not been well

integrated. In child welfare literature, severity of abuse has not received the same attention

as occurrence and reoccurrence of abuse. Most research on risk assessment tools has

examined the risk of physical abuse occurring when different ‘risk’ factors are present,

without differentiating between different levels of severity of abuse.

Study of fatal child abuse cases has identified the following factors: caretaker

characteristics including the age of the perpetrator (with younger parents under 21 years

old being more prominent; Strang, 1996); the relationship of the perpetrator to the victim


(and whether the father is non-biological; Strang, 1996); poverty and instability (with low

socio-economic status and unemployment being a feature; Wallace, 1986; Strang, 1996);

the child’s behaviour as a precipitating factor in the incident; lack of understanding of

child behaviour (Wallace, 1986); an acceptance of physical violence in child-rearing

(Wallace, 1986); a negative perception of their own situation (Wilczynski, 1995); a lack of

social and personal resources (Wilczynski, 1995); and multi-problem families (Wilczynski,

1995).

4.4. Fatal assault as a gender problem

Due to clear gender patterns in violent crime, gender has been analysed as an

explanatory factor. Although males are predominantly the perpetrators of violent conflict

and homicide of adults, children are killed by both males and females (Alder & Polk,

1996). Alder and Polk (1996, p. 409) challenge the universalist representation of ‘male

violence as an instrumental act, a means of accomplishing masculinity or as an

unpremeditated emotional act of rage and anger in response to a threat’. They conclude

that violent scenarios involving men who kill children are complex and diverse, and that a

universalist representation of male violence does not capture this diversity.

A simplistic gender analysis that equates violence with males does not account for child

fatal assaults, which are more complex and diverse within the family context and are also

perpetrated by females. There does, however, appear to be a gender dimension to the

different types of child fatal assault. Fatal assault of teenagers for example, is predom-

inantly carried out by males (Lawrence & Fattore, 2004).

4.5. Fatal assault as a mental health problem

Some child fatal assaults are the result of a perpetrator’s mental health problem

(Bourget & Bradford, 1990). Stroud’s (1997) review of several studies notes that many

of the perpetrators of fatal assault of children suffer from major mental disorders, such as

puerperal mental illness, depression, schizophrenia and personality disorders. ‘Patholog-

ical filicide’ (Bourget & Bradford, 1990) includes cases of major depression in which the

mothers are generally older and married, and schizophrenia in which the mother suffers

delusions and may attempt suicide at the time of the child’s death. From examining the

data, Stroud (1997) concludes that child homicide is heterogenous and that two distinct

patterns can be identified with only one pattern adequately explained by the perpetrator’s

mental illness. One pattern is a result of the parent’s acute stage of mental illness. The

second pattern also involves mental health problems, including personality disorder and

depression, but results from an interaction of these mental health problems with psycho-

social stress (Stroud, 1997). Stressors include relationship problems, unwanted or difficult

pregnancies and serious financial problems (Bourget & Bradford, 1990).

Although it is clear that the mental health status of the perpetrator can be a significant

factor in fatal child assaults, Sanders, Colton and Roberts (1999) warn against the

tendency to pathologise the causes ‘rather than seeing it as a result of a complex interplay

of predisposing and protective factors operating at various levels’ (Sanders et al., 1999, p.

260).


4.6. Fatal assault as part of the culture of violence

Fatal assault can be seen to result from an acceptance of violence in society. This

explanatory theory concentrates on an explanation of the common category of action

that led to each death (violence). Teenagers who use violence as conflict resolution

with peers reflect societal violence, while for child assault within the family, violence

may be accepted and used as a disciplinary practice. According to this view, the

violence that occurs within the family reflects violence that is widespread in society,

and violence that is directed towards the child is not different from that directed at

adults. Violence is seen to occur along a continuum of severity that includes different

settings of violence in society. The different settings include violence within the family,

assault, violent crime, homicide and murder. A violent incident may also have ended in

death if a different weapon had been used or a different part of the body had been

assaulted (Wallace, 1986).

Fiala and LaFree (1988) have argued that societies with high levels of violence

should have high levels of both adult and child homicide, and there is some evidence

that this occurs in developed nations. Christoffel, Liu and Stamler found that in

developed nations the death rates for children aged 1–4 years came close to correlating

with the death rate for all ages (Christoffel, Liu & Stamler, 1981).

While recognising widespread violence in society, this theory does not account for why

a particular offender would be prone to violence.

An alternate theory proposes that violent crime is restricted to a particular group of

offenders, or a ‘subculture’ of offenders who usually have low socio-economic status and

do not share the same values as ‘non-violent’ people (Wallace, 1986). Theories of violence

have often been woven into gender and criminological analyses of violence.

4.7. Fatal assault as a criminal act

Each of the previous theories concentrates on a different aspect of child fatal assault

including the victim’s developmental status (child), the perpetrator’s gender or mental

health problem, the context of the assault (family), or the category of action that occurs

(violence, or violence within the child-rearing relationship). In contrast, the criminolog-

ical perspective sees fatal assault as a criminal act. Criminological theory also offers

explanatory theory at a number of different levels.

Some criminological theories have addressed the individual’s criminal motivation or

psychological profile (the ‘homicidal person’ Lester, 1972, or ‘sexual deviance’). Other

theories have sought explanation in the criminal’s early childhood experiences. Disruption

to security and attachment in infancy and early childhood are seen to be one of the

pathways to antisocial and violent behaviour in adulthood (Fonagy, Target, Steele &

Steele, 1997). Recent longitudinal studies have found that children who are physically

abused and neglected are more likely to commit a violent crime (National Institute of

Justice, 2001). Criminological theories of child homicide and mothering has included

theory around mother–child attachment disruption (due to post-birth disruption of the

mother–child bond from psychological distress (NSW Law Reform Commission, 1993),

and analysis of ‘mad and bad’ mothers who commit homicides (Wilczynski, 1997).


More general criminological theories concentrate on situational or contextual factors in

the crime (such as the availability of weapons including guns and knives), and the social

context of the crime, including socio-economic relations and gender relations within the

society.

4.8. Fatal assault as a consequence of poverty

A substantial amount of cross-national research has shown a connection between

economic inequality and homicide rates (Fiala & LaFree, 1988). Fiala and La Free

found that economic stress is most useful in explaining cross-national variation in child

homicide in developed nations. Socio-economic status has been found to have a

differential effect according to the type of child death. Nixon et al. (1981) found that

non-accidental injury deaths and neglect deaths of children 0–4 years of age occurred

only in low socio-economic status groups. Similarly, Strang (1996) found child abuse

deaths were characterised by poverty, instability and unemployment of the offender. In

contrast, ‘child murder’ (defined as a wilful act to kill the child) was found to occur

across the spectrum of socio-economic status, including high income groups (Nixon et

al., 1981).

The relationship between fatal non-accidental injury and socio-economic status draws

attention to an important structural dimension of fatal assault, which is often omitted in

theories which concentrate at the psychological level of explanation.

5. Conclusion

Children are killed by violence in a diverse range of situations that occur within and

outside the family. These situations can be classified into a typology of child fatal assaults.

The precipitating factors, social context and perpetrator–victim characteristics follow

patterns within each of the categories of assault. Different types of fatal assault include:

neonaticide, fatal child abuse, family dispute, mental illness, fatal sexual assault, and teen

fatal assault.

Explanatory theories of fatal assault concentrate on a different aspect of child fatal

assault including the victim’s developmental status (child), the perpetrator’s gender or

mental health problem, the category of action that occurs (violence, violence within the

child-rearing relationship, a criminal act), or the immediate or societal context of the

assault (family, poverty or structural inequality). Conceptualisation of this social problem

and the assumptions in the accompanying explanations must be made explicit for

discussion of this social problem to proceed.

Acknowledgements

This research was undertaken as part of a study for the NSW Child Death Review

Team. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the views of any

affiliated organisations.


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