A comparison of parricide and attempted parricide: a study of 39 psychotic adults

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Introduction

Parricide is a rare event. In general, North American and European statistics indicate that parricide accounts for less than 4% of all resolved homicides Ewing, 1997, Fedorowycz, 1999, Hillbrand et al., 1999, Stoessel & Bornstein, 1988. For example, in Canada, parricide represented 3.7% of all homicides during the period ranging from 1991 to 1997 (Fedorowycz, 1999). However, it is important to note that parricide forms 20–30% of homicides committed by psychotic subjects Bénézech, 1992, Millaud et al., 1996.

Parricide is a crime committed essentially by males. Among offenders, the number of males outnumbers the number of females by a large ratio of 6:1. In Canada, from 1961 to 1989, 90% of the offenders committing this type of crime were males (Statistics Canada, unpublished statistics). Examination of the victims' sex also indicates a higher number of males killed but the margin is less important (2:1). Many studies indicate that patricide committed by sons is the most frequent form of parricide Daly & Wilson, 1988, Devaux et al., 1974. When we take into account only psychotic parricides, results in the literature indicate an important difference; here, the number of mothers killed in some samples is equal or higher to the number of fathers killed (Zagury & Millaud, 1998).

The information concerning parricide is mainly derived from clinical material. The majority of studies published involve less than five cases and it is difficult to make generalizations because of the different approaches taken by the authors. Some authors have worked with forensic samples of eight or more adult patients.1

To our knowledge, only Weisman and Sharma (1997) have compared characteristics of parricide and attempted-parricide subjects. They noted that attempted parricide was not studied often as a subgroup in the literature, except anecdotally with case reports Bénézech, 1992, Bourgeois & Henry, 1967, Nassif & Bendjilali, 1998, Tucker & Cornwall, 1977 and that, again based on the literature, parricide victims often had a history of prior violent attack by the aggressor. Some authors have compared subjects charged with murder and those charged with attempted murder Bain et al., 1987, Langevin et al., 1987, Medlicott, 1976, Shumaker & McKee, 2001 but without any theoretical rationale. No significant differences were found between the two subgroups of subjects on a number of variables. Other authors instead collapsed homicide and attempted homicide together for analysis, with the attempted group generally being very small (filicide: D'Orban, 1979, Haapasalo & Petäjä, 1999, Marleau et al., 1995; aviolicide: Bornstein, Motte-Moitroux, & Balette, 1984; parricide: Millaud et al., 1996, Tsalicoglou, 1988; not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) literature: Lewis et al., 1998, Nestor et al., 1995; and homicide by adolescents: Hagan, 1997, Santtila & Haapasalo, 1997, Sendi & Blomgren, 1975). The rationale to collapse data implies that authors consider many of the aggressors' characteristics in the two subgroups to be at least similar on many points. More specifically, the rationale proposed by certain authors Hagan, 1997, Shumaker & McKee, 2001 is to the effect that individuals who attempted homicide intended to kill their victims and that chance played a part in the fact that they did not die.

The work of Weisman and Sharma (1997) is unique because they compared biographic, demographic, diagnostic, and crime scene characteristics of 45 parricide and 19 attempted-parricide subjects. Their data were retrospective and clinical and were collected from 1978 to 1996 in Southern California. Results indicated few differences. However, the sample for this research was composed of criminally responsible (CR) and NGRI subjects and of adolescents and adults. They found that attempted-parricide subjects, as compared with parricide subjects, were more likely to have a history of psychiatric hospitalization, witnesses to their criminal act, nonresponsiveness towards their actions (remained around the scene crime), and a hospital disposition.

Given that Weisman and Sharma's (1997) sample was heterogeneous (adolescents and adults, NGRI and CR), the goal of our research was to compare a subgroup of parricide subjects with another of attempted-parricide subjects using a more homogeneous sample. Our sample consisted of 39 adult offenders found not guilty by reason of insanity and hospitalized at a center for forensic psychiatry in Montreal (Canada). Based on the literature, we expected to find no major differences between the two subgroups on a series of demographic, historical, criminological, and psychiatric variables.

Section snippets

Material and methods

The sample comprised 39 adult subjects (36 men and 3 women) who were found not guilty by reason of insanity and hospitalized at the Philippe Pinel Institute in Montreal (Canada) between 1976 and 1999. When a subject is found not guilty by reason of insanity, it implies that the subject was suffering from a psychosis at the time of the offense. The Philippe Pinel Institute is a maximum-security hospital where forensic and/or psychiatric patients who are considered dangerous to others are

Differences between the two subgroups

Significant statistical differences for three variables were found between the two subgroups of patients. In the parricide subgroup, 6 patients (26%) had made previous threats of assault against the victim. In contrast, 11 patients (65%) in the attempted-parricide subgroup made threats of harm (χ2=6.99, df=1, P=.008). Concerning family history of violence, a significant difference was noted. Half of the subjects in the attempted-parricide subgroup had a family history of violence compared with

Differences between the subgroups

Only a few differences were found between the two subgroups of NGRI adult patients. The results thus confirm our initial hypothesis. In the attempted-parricide subgroup, subjects were more likely to have made a threat of harm to the victims in the months or days before the assault, to have a family history of violence, and to have fewer suicidal thoughts after the offense.

It is interesting that in our attempted-parricide subgroup, subjects more often made a threat of harm to the victims. Our

Conclusion

Our results show few differences between the two subgroups. Subjects in the attempted-parricide subgroup are more likely to have made threats of harm before the offense, to have a family history of violence, and to have fewer suicidal thoughts after the offense. It is possible that prior threat of harm to the victim is related to the fact that the person survived (victim's ability to defend him- or herself, intensity of the aggression, etc.). Further studies are needed to better understand the

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Linda Garceau, head psychologist of the Institut Philippe Pinel de Montréal, and Dominique Meunier, lecturer at the Department of Communication of the Université du Québec à Montréal, for their assistance.

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