Disclaimer: The following article discusses sensitive topics including murder and abuse particularly in the context of family problems.
Familial annihilation – or familicide – is a type of murder or murder-suicide in which an individual kills multiple close family members in quick succession, most often children, spouses, siblings, or parents. Familicide is commonly committed by the father of the children and husband of the mother. However, it is important to note that familicide is a generalization and is not always committed by the father. Other members of the family can also perpetrate familial annihilation.
In cases of the death of a child at the hands of another person, 67% of those were committed by the parent.
Being aware of all of the warning signs leading to familicide could potentially prevent a case from happening.
Family murders are considered mass murders, as there are multiple people killed in a short period of time in the same setting. There are two components to familicide include uxoricide (the killing of one’s partner) and filicide (the killing of children by their parents).
According to research from the University of New York Albany, familicide is premeditated, and the perpetrator views their family members as “property”, feeling they have the right to end their lives.
According to that same research, the two categories of offenders included “the self-preserving offender who is triggered by a threat to their individual well-being, and the mentally ill offender who is triggered by a serious mental disorder or disability”.
While there could be a multitude of reasons as to why familicide occurs, the top motives encompass 49% family breakdown, 28% financial distress, 10% mental illness, 8% appearance to the public, and 5% honor/protection of oneself, others, or of the victimized family. Causes to the breakdown could include domestic violence, affairs, substance use, financial distress, divorce, jealousy, and custody disputes.
Additionally, altruism is a prominent motive, this meaning that the parent kills the child because the offender may perceive their death to be in the child’s best interest. This could be due to a terminal illness, or to precede the parents’ suicide, as they feel it would be unfair to leave the child behind. Psychosis can also play into this – killing the child based on ideas that are inconsistent with reality.
As previously stated, familicide is a generalization — however, based on research that looked at over 30 different cases, 57.4% of familial annihilation perpetrators are fathers, and 42.6% are mothers.
That being said, many researchers believe that the majority of perpetrators feel the need to maintain their masculinity, leading to the control and power over their family. When the criminal’s power dynamic is threatened, they will act out violently and fatally. This is defined as the Medea complex, being the “if I can’t have them, no one can” thinking process.
In 90% of familicide cases, the children were biologically related to the offender, with just 10% being a step child/parent relationship.
Although things like substance use and mental illness can result in familicide, most cases rarely reflect these. Most offenders are law abiding citizens and sufficient husbands and fathers before their offense, making familicide a hidden danger.
