Introduction to Psychology Why kids kill parents BY Kathleen M. Heide Psychology Today Magazine HOW A LEGACY OF CHILD ABUSE LEADS TO HOMICIDE I chose this article because I have always been astonished at how children can do this to their parents and what drove them to the choices they made. Did they have any other choices or did they use all of their chooses up that they had? This article supplied a lot of answers to me. According to this Article: Between 1977 and 1986, more than 300 parents were killed each year by their own children. An in-depth analysis of the FBI Supplementary Homicide Report for this period shows that, in the great majority of cases, the child who killed was a white male.
These numbers are unbelievable to me! These are neglected and abused children whose options are limited — children who honestly think they have no other way out. Why are the killers teenagers? Is the question I asked myself. The answer from this article is that child under 11 do not understand the concept of death and that their actions which lead to an irreversible result. Adolescents are more likely to kill because the normal turbulence of adolescence runs up against constraints they perceive have been placed upon them in a setting of limited alternatives. Unlike adults, kids cannot simply leave. The article calls teenagers ‘parricide offenders’ when conditions in the home are intolerable but their alternatives are limited.
The law has made it a crime for kids to runaway, the article states that many have tried to run but have been returned to their homes because they have no where else to go. Adolescence is a stormy time, children going through it need the support of parents, who must give them room to grow and help them confront tough issues. Those who commit parricide have parents who have not been available to help them. The article, breaks it down onto three types of individuals who commit parricide. 1. The severely abused child who is pushed beyond his or her limits.
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2. The severely mentally ill child. 3. The darling of the tabloids, the dangerously antisocial child.
#1 The severely abused child is the most frequently encountered type of offender. more than 90 % have been abused by their parents. They killed because they could no longer tolerate conditions at home. These children were psychologically abused by one or both parents and often suffered physical, sexual, and verbal abuse as well — and witnessed it given to others in the household. For them, the killings represented an act of desperation, the only way out for them. #2 Only on occasion does a severely mentally ill child kill.
These are children who have lost contact with reality. Previous treatments have failed and the killer is declared unfit to stand trial. #3 Children who seem to kill without any remorse, yet whose parents seem to be loving and kind. These are the kids who kill their parents merely because they don’t want to ask to use the car again or be bother with them at all. The article goes on to say they conducted a research on 75 adolescents charged with murder or attempted murder. Seven involved youths who killed their parents, six were male; all were white and between 12 to 17 years old.
Two out of the six killed both parents. I was so surprised by these facts! ! I knew that these things happen but was surprised at how many there were. I was sadden by the fact that these children had no other choices in their minds that they could use to stop these murders. The parents in most of the cases were under some drugs or alcohol themselves and were in a way asking for help.
But in some cases they were just bad parents (not they the got what they deserved) leaving the child no choice. I felt bad for one boy who tried to get away from the problem before he killed his father, he actually left the house to let his father clam down and came back and found him waiting for him with a shotgun, at that point he felt he had no choice but to shoot him. When he shot his father once, he was then afraid his father would be okay and come after him again when he was well, so he shot him again to make sure his father would not be able to do that. To end with a quote from the article; ‘ The true killer in these cases is child mistreatment.’ ‘Damage comes not only in human carnage but in the death of the human spirit that persistent abuse often carries out.’.
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Screaming violently and giving meaningless threats toward a child may make him / her feel uncomfortable; it is a form of abuse. How do we discipline a child In our society, parents don t comprehend the difference between disciplinary and abusive actions. They are not aware of where to draw the line. The difference between child abuse and discipline is like the difference between night and day. The ...
