Intra-familial child homicide in Finland 1970–1994: incidence, causes of death and demographic characteristics

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate all child homicides for the 25-year period, 1970–1994 in Finland and to analyse the specific characteristics of the filicide cases. A total of 292 child homicides occurred during this period. In 201 (69%) cases the offender was a parent or a stepparent of the child. Altogether, 173 (59%) of the victims were boys and 119 (41%) were girls. For the closer examination of the filicide cases we excluded the neonaticide and homicide–suicide cases. Consequently, we report on 70 filicide victims. Of these victims, 42 (60%) were boys and 28 (40%) were girls. Twenty six (37%) of the children were killed before the age of 1 year and 53 (79%) before the age of 5 years. The offender was the mother in 43 (61%) cases and the father or the stepfather in 26 (37%) cases. The victims of the mothers were younger than those of the fathers. The most frequent causes of death were head injuries, drowning and suffocation. The most common means of assault were battering, drowning and strangulation. One in two of the fatally battered children had a documented history of previous abuse.

Introduction

It is generally agreed that children under 1 year of age are at greater risk of homicide than children of any other age group [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9]. In 1994, Finland ranked second among 26 countries for the firearm death rate for children [10], [11]. In previous studies, the infant homicide rate in Finland has been one of the highest among developed nations [12], [13]. Thus, the infants risk of becoming a victim of homicide in Finland seems particularly high.

Parents are the most likely offenders in the case of homicide of children aged less than 5 years [1], [3], [14]. Mothers and fathers pre-dominate particularly in infanticide cases [14], [15], [16]. When findings of previous studies are compared, no consistent differences can be found in the gender of the victims or the offenders. The only category of cases in which mothers pre-dominate is that of neonaticide, while fathers pre-dominate in suicide–homicide cases [3], [5].

Although, the statistics show high infant homicide rates in Finland, the characteristics associated with these fatalities have been very little examined. A systematic study of child homicides is, therefore, warranted. This study investigated all child homicides committed in Finland during the 25-year period from 1970 to 1994 and analysed the specific characteristics of the filicide cases.

This study is part of a series of investigations concerning child physical abuse in Finland. Prospective paediatric surgical and psychiatric evaluation of battered children is currently under way in several Finnish hospitals.

Section snippets

All cases

Information concerning all deaths certified as homicide or undetermined deaths in Finland for children aged 14 years and younger was obtained from Statistics Finland for the 25-year period, 1970–1994. There were 292 deaths coded by the Finnish version of classification of diseases, ICD-9 as E 960–E 969 (homicides) and E 970–E 979 (undetermined). These cases were divided into six groups according to the type of homicide and the relationship of the victim to the perpetrator, based on the short

All cases

The figures concerning all child homicide and undetermined deaths in 5-year period indicate no uniform trend (Table 2). However, the total death rate decreased considerably after the first 5-year period, 1970–1974. Especially high numbers of neonaticides and filicide–suicides took place during this first period. A continuous fall occurred only in the number of neonaticide cases during the 25 years. The number of neonaticides fell from 20 cases (24% of all cases) in the period, 1970–1974 to 5

Discussion

This study analysed the characteristics of intra-familial child homicides in Finland between 1970 and 1994. The accurate documentation system of homicide cases in Finland makes reliable data collection possible. However, the information obtained from the death certificates appeared not to be sufficient for classification of cases, due to two reasons. First, the events are not fully known at the time of the autopsy, and second, the events are not uniformly documented in the short summaries of

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