By Olga Craig
Dr Ashcroft, himself the father of an eight-week-old son, knows more than most about filicide: he has studied more than 50 British cases. "...harsh fact is that these are not spontaneous acts of madness. These murders are almost always premeditated: often planned in extreme detail."
The headlines may seem to be multiplying, but such murders are not a new phenomenon, Dr Ashcroft says.
Crime statistics show that in the decade from 1992 to 2002, an average of 78 children under 16 were murdered each year in England and Wales. In roughly 70 per cent of cases, the killing was carried out by a parent, almost always the father.
"One major element that almost all have in common is that, hitherto, they have been well-respected and well-known in their communities," says Dr Ashcroft. "Inevitably, one always hears shocked descriptions afterwards of how he was 'a devoted dad' or ‘a loving family man’.
"And that, in itself, is revealing. Because almost all are the sort of men who place enormous value on their role, or perceived role, within a family.
"Probably the most significant factors that come into play are family break-up, male sexual jealousy, a need to be in control and extreme possessiveness."
Often those who kill their children fall into one of two categories, says Professor Kevin Browne, the director of the Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology at the University of Birmingham. A minority suffer from personality disorders —the mentally ill. But there is a majority who have a history of violent and abusive behaviour, the so-called "generally violent".
Both groups often had troubled childhoods making them particularly challenged by feelings of jealousy and fearful of abandonment.
"In other words, if the wife threatens to leave, it can trigger a tremendous reaction in the man, including wanting to kill his wife and his children," Professor Browne says.
Psychologists agree that the majority of women who kill their children are seriously mentally ill, but fathers who do so rarely are.
"Men and women go through life experiencing distressing circumstances such as relationship breakdowns or financial problems, and they develop strategies to deal with them," says Dr Alex Yellowlees, a consultant psychiatrist and medical director of the Priory Hospital in Glasgow. "Women tend to talk to their friends, go out and drink too much or maybe chop off the sleeves of their husbands' suits.
"Others, in particular these fathers, have not developed those coping skills. They have low self-esteem, they are very controlling and less able to handle rejection. They can't talk about it: it is as if they have failed, and they cannot accept that. They feel utterly humiliated and respond with the ultimate act of revenge: ‘If I cannot have the children, no one can.’ They know their partner will suffer for the rest of her life if he kills the children and leaves her alive."
But one psychologist, an expert witness in one such murder trial... "Make no mistake," he says, "these men know the difference between right and wrong. And these are well-planned executions. A few may be insane, but generally that is simply not the case.
"They may be depressed or frustrated with life. They may have lost a relationship or a job that meant a lot to them. But they are not hearing voices, they are not suffering from a profound mental disorder. Annihilating his family is this type of murderer's way of regaining control. It is a methodical murder by a rational, loving father. And that is why it is so terrifying."
|
