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Maternal Infanticide in America:How Race, Class, and Gender Influence Infant Homicide RatesZakury WaltersUniversity of Nevada Las VegasAbstractA consensus from sociological, criminological, and medical experts illustrates the severe lack of and need for research into maternal infanticide and the need for further research. While a consensus has been reached about the lack of research, the understanding of the cause as to why such a crime takes place is far from agreed upon. In this research paper I will review various studies done on maternal infanticide and connect them to broader black feminist criminological theories. The leading hypotheses involving mental illness and economic stress are examined for their strengths and weaknesses. A discussion and critiques of each theory is applied to dispel reductionists attitudes of the “mad or bad mother” critique. Policy implications and cultural solutions are endorsed by this research paper. First to continue the research into maternal infanticide; secondly to provide medical and economic support for black women post childbirth. Finally, a conclusion recommending an intersectional lens incorporating race, class, and gender is presented as a solution to the ineffective theories surrounding maternal infanticide. Maternal Infanticide in AmericaBlack children are three times more likely than white children to be killed before the age of five; of these children, 60% are killed by a parent (Fox, J.A., & Zawitz, M.W., 1999). Between 1976 and 2005, 39.16% of all victims of homicide under the age of five were less than a year old.Homicides of children who have yet to reach twelve months old is the definition of infanticide; in which this paper will utilize throughout. The reason why parents kill their children is still a topic of highly contested debate. Some scholars believe that the reasons behind infanticide reside in emotional disorders that are either not diagnosed or underdiagnosed leading to a lack of treatment (Spinelli, M. G., 2004). Other scholars state that socioeconomics and the stigma due to the income gap is the only provable cause of maternal infanticide (Gauthier, D.K., Chaudoir, N.K., & Forsyth, C.J. (2003). The research is utilized to answer the following questions:What are the current arrest rates for women of various races for infanticide?What are the current conviction rates for women of various races for infanticide?What research has been conducted on reasons behind infanticide and how the legal system handles these cases.A further analysis of crime rates and statistics of infanticide are included in this research as evidence. Medical research revolving around postpartum depression is used to further the discussion of the need for medical accessibility in low income neighborhoods. Criminological frameworks are discussed as review for the connection to women involved in the criminal justice system. The connection between race, class, and gender and the inability to access medical resources is the cause of maternal infanticide. Literature ReviewMargaret G. Spinelli (2004) argues that the cause of maternal infanticide is due to untreated postpartum depression in most cases. According to Spinelli, “the perpetrator of [infanticide] is often a victim too.” She uses the case of Andrea Yates, a mother who drowned her five children in 2001, as the main focus of study for this research. She contests that these women do not receive adequate treatment in the criminal justice system due to a lack of scientific evidence found in the following: The dearth of descriptive symptoms for disorders associated with infanticide, including postpartum psychosis, leaves the expert witness with few scientific tools. Absent systematic clinical descriptions or research-based case reports, each act is judged in isolation, with little or no regard for similar cases. (p. 1549)In her review of legislation, history, and modern-day psychiatric practices she states that other western countries treat infanticide with more compassion than the United States. The rates in which countries similar to the United State, such as England and Scotland, commit infanticide and the differences in how they handle these cases shows the critique of punishment over treatment. England mandates that mothers who commit infanticide are put on probation and required to start treatment for mental disorders. While Scotland is much like the United States – although not quite as hostile and has no such provisions in their legislation. The results indicate that treatment and probation are just as, if not more effective than incarceration all the while being less expensive. Cases of infanticide may be far and few between, while also not receiving media attention that more prominent cases get, but they should still be studied. From a clinical point of view, infanticide can be prevented if there is more research. Those who have the thoughts of harming their children can benefit from a better understanding to reduce stigmas associated with postpartum depression. From a legal standpoint, women can receive treatment instead of incarceration which should also help reduce stigmas and thus reducing infanticide. Spinelli concludes that we should “seek a more in-depth understanding of infanticide” (p.1555) to prevent infanticide and also to rehabilitate those who commit infanticide. The research from DeAnn K. Gauthier, Nancy K. Chaudoir, and Craig J. Forsyth focuses on a second theory of infanticide of economic stress. The study hopes to explain the overall trend of maternal infanticide on a state level. The individual is not part of the study and is omitted throughout the paper. The independent variables that are used by Gauthier, et al., are as follows: First, per capita income is used as a measure of the overall economic well being (sic) of each state. Second, the percent of the total population in each state who are poor females of childbearing age is used as a measure of female economic stress. Social support also is operationalized in two ways. First, the percent of all persons who are married females is used as a rough indicator of female interpersonal social support. Second, the total dollars spent on welfare programs in each state is used as a measure of governmentally sponsored social support. Race=ethnic in?uence is measured as a function of percent of the population in each state which is either White or Black. Finally, geographic in?uence is operationalized as South=non-South state location.The results of the study showed that homicide committed by women is extremely rare, but there are some states that show a higher rate than others. Between 1984 and 1996 Colorado was ranked the highest in infanticide rate per 100,000 live births. Interesting statistics show that New York ranked 4th, California was 15th, and Texas was 12th (Nevada was ranked 17th). This study showed that social support, geographic location, and race were not good predictors of maternal infanticides (Gauthier, et al., p. 400). The conclusion of Gauthier’s (2003) findings states that “per capital income is related to infanticide only when controlling for female poverty, and vice versa” (p. 401). Which showcases the economic stress theory when specified for women and their experiences. It continues that governmental and social support did not correlate with lower rates of maternal infanticide. Meaning that public welfare and marriage do not change whether or not a woman will or will not commit infanticide. Future analysis that is recommended is for a focus on social and economic value of women’s careers and how that will play a role in rates of infanticide. Also, the states that showed zero for a rate of maternal infanticide should be further studied to see if there are major cultural differences that shield children from infanticide or if there are just insufficient data coming from those states. Crimmins, Langley, Brownstein, & Spunt, (2006) research 42 women across a multiple of sociodemographic variables. Nearly half, 48%, of the women were black, while white women only made up 38%. Each woman was interviewed and allowed to speak openly about what they perceived to be issues. Multiple negative factors such as substance abuse, histories of being victimized, and witnessing severe harm as a child all came up during these interviews. The victims of these women were their children; there were 45 victims in all. Crimmins, et al., (2006) states that “more than one third of the children were killed before age 1.” Motives included psychological distress (19%), depression (33%), or drug and alcohol abuse (31%). Nearly two thirds of the women also reported having mental health problems at some point in their life. This research concludes with focus on the victims instead of the mothers. With the reasons why, these women being inconsistent and complex, Crimmins states that they wanted to skirt the examination of seeing these women as simply “mad or bad.” A study done by Halbreich (2005) focuses on the effects of depression and other disorders have on mothers and offspring from pregnancy to postpartum. Prevention of stress-related disorders is discussed for medical personnel across different disciplines. A scale to determine pregnancy risk factors for postpartum depression is included in Halbreich’s findings. This scale includes race (specifically African-American), single motherhood, poverty, inner city or disadvantaged communities, trauma, mothers’ age (specifically adolescent), and drug or alcohol use as being indicators of a pregnant woman having a higher chance of having postpartum depression. It is this scale that is utilized the most out of this research for the purposes of this paper in the findings section below. Fox & Zawitz (2010) research utilizes FBI reporting data from 1975 to 2005 to construct a vast research piece on a plethora of different homicide statistics. The research that has a connection to this paper is specifically the rates of homicides of children under age of 5. The statistical analysis is further separated by race, age, gender, and relationship of victim to offender. The information about men having higher rates of offending in regard to infanticide is important to note, but ultimately omitted from the findings of this paper. Britton (2013) writes about the overall interaction that women have with the criminal justice system. From offending to victims to workers, the female representation in the criminal justice system is the subject of this reading. There are two facts that are relevant to this research paper are about women as offenders and as victims. Britton showed that “[black] women have higher rates of arrest and participation in homicide, aggravated assault, and other index offenses than white women” (p.41). While black women are more likely to be victims than white women (p. 43).Ericka Peterson (2013) expands on the concept of women as offenders in homicide cases. Women commit violent crimes and homicides at a very small number compared to men. This is backed up by the findings of Fox & Zawitz (2010) that show men are more likely to kill their children than women are. The reasons behind why women commit murder, according to Peterson (2013), is the inaccessibility to legal means of resolving problems and the feeling of having no control over the situation.FindingsThroughout all of the readings, the threads that connect one another are those of race, class, and – obviously – gender. The ways in which infanticide are committed can be attributed to race and class. While Gauthier, et al., (2003) did not find anything to correlate the findings to race, they did find correlation to income gaps. By not taking an intersectional or black feminist criminologist perspective, Gauthier failed to see the connection to race. According to Peterson (2013) women commit homicide because of a lack of legal resources. The lack of resources for black women in particular is highlighted in Halbreich (2005) as being a detrimental factor for their mental and emotional health. Class plays a factor in all of these studies as the lack of ability to access resources targets those women who are in a lower income bracket. Typically, a higher percentage of the black woman population is in a lower income bracket than are their white women counterparts. Spinelli (2004) talks about mental health being an issue postpartum for the mothers that commit infanticide. This finding is backed up by Halbreich (2005) by saying that postpartum depression is a common occurrence for many new mothers. DiscussionAll of the findings are rather interesting as they all conclude that there is not enough information about women who commit infanticide. Spinelli (2004) and Gauthier (2003) both conclude reasons as to why women commit infanticide, but ultimately disagree with one another. Crimmins (2006) speaks on the inability to pinpoint causes that women kill their children. The complete lack of research done on this topic makes it improbable to make an educated guess on the causes for infanticide. If this research is seen by intersectional feminists, then the threads that are invisible to the original researchers can be seen. When comparing the research done by Gauthier to the research done by Chesney-Lind and Pasko (2013), the lack of understanding of how race is influenced by class is outstanding. Gauthier discredits that race places a role in infanticide only because as a single variable it does not yield results. However, the income difference does yield results, which is the biggest impact for women of color. Moreover, the stigma associated with having thoughts of harming one’s child reduces the ability for women to seek out assistance during postpartum depressive episodes. Again, the ability to access resources is restricted to affluent women, who tend to be white women. Leaving black women without the ability to seek out help during episodes of postpartum depression.ConclusionWith their economic disadvantages and susceptibility to postpartum depression, black women are more likely to be the perpetrators of infanticide. On top of that, all women have their right to a fair trial trampled upon due to the lack of research regarding maternal infanticide. Without the experience of well-informed expert witnesses, the courts are unable to provide due process. To answer the original questions posed, there is not enough information to answer any of them. The research is incomplete and needs to be further studied. The best explanations for infanticide are the economic stress and postpartum depression theories. Even with these theories, courts in the United States treat women who commit infanticide as the worst criminals. The appropriate way to treat these cases are with more compassion. The connection between race, class, and gender and the inability to access medical resources is the cause of maternal infanticide. ReferencesBritton, D.M. (2013). Feminism in Criminology: Engendering the Outlaw. In M. Chesney-Lind & L. Pasko (Eds.), Girls, women, and crime: Selected readings (pp. 39-49). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications. Chesney-Lind, M. & Pasko, L. (2013). The Female Offender: Girls, women, and crime. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.Crimmins, S.M., Langley S.C., Brownstein, H.H., & Spunt, B.J. (2006). Women Who Have Killed Their Children. In L.F. Alarid & P. Cromwell (Eds.), In Her Own Words: Women Offenders Views on Crime and Victimization (pp. 93-102). New York, NY: Oxford University PressFox, J.A., & Zawitz, M.W. (2010). Homicide trends in the United States. 28-37.Gauthier, D.K., Chaudoir, N.K., & Forsyth, C.J. (2003). A sociological analysis of maternal infanticide in the United States, 1984-1996. Deviant Behavior, 24(4), 393-404.Halbreich, U. (2005). The association between pregnancy processes, preterm delivery, low birth weight, and postpartum depressions—the need for interdisciplinary integration. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 193(4), 1312-1322.Peterson, E.S.L. (2013). Murder as Self-Help: Woman and Intimate Partner Homicide. In M. Chesney-Lind & L. Pasko (Eds.), Girls, women, and crime: Selected readings (pp. 133j-142). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications. Spinelli, M. G. (2004). Maternal infanticide associated with mental illness: prevention and the promise of saved lives. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161(9), 1548-1557. ................
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