Filicide by fire

Abstract

Filicide is the killing of a child by their own parents(s) (biological, adoptive or step-parent; Flynn, Windfuhr, & Shaw, 2009); infanticide and neonaticide are defined as the killing of an infant under 1 year (Flynn, Shaw, & Abel, 2007) and 24 hours old respectively (Resnick, 1969). Although filicide is rare, estimated at 1.92 cases per 100,000 inhabitants for girls and 2.93 for boys under the age of 18 (Pinheiro, 2006), it is not a recent phenomenon (Langer, 1974). Causing death by fire is reported in the literature as one of the most common methods of filicide (Adinkrah, 2001); with reported rates varying between approximately 3% (Liem & Koenraadt, 2008) and 37% (Meyer, Oberman, & White, 2001). The existing research on filicide has made little effort to examine the specificities of this group of offenders, in particular around determining possible typologies of filicide offenders by method of killing. Given the emerging interest and research in deliberate firesetters as a distinct group of offenders, it is appropriate to focus on those individuals who commit filicide by fire, a behaviour that has been largely ignored in the literature to date. To address the gap in the literature, this chapter will first provide an overview of the existing literature on filicide (with a focus on filicide by fire) and firesetting. It will then examine the shared and unique characteristics of these groups of offenders. A conceptualisation of the factors that may contribute to an individual using fire to commit filicide will be provided using the latest theory of adult firesetting, the Multi-Trajectory Theory of Adult Firesetting (Gannon, O Ciardha, Doley, & Alleyne, 2012). Finally, recommendations for specific areas of treatment and further research will be made based upon the current evidence base.