Childhood Homicide
Abstract
Homicide in the family is a theme of great psychological significance. This paper utilizes multiple published articles of Bloch (1978), Daily & Wilson (1988), Freud (1918), Gelles (1985), Heide (1994, 2012), Mones (1992) and Warren (1969), that reports on the research conducted online (Internet) and offline (non-Internet) and reflects understanding of how child abuse and untreated psychological disorders, influence troubled children to potentially murder. This paper includes a review of an article concerning parricide, which is the killing of one’s father. The article is about a ten year old boy, who murdered his abusive, neo-Nazi father, who was in charge of his regions chapter of the National Socialist Movement (NSM), and thought …show more content…
he would not be held accountable for the murder. Attempting to examine the extenuating circumstances and applying to the research found, to better gain an understanding into the psyche of a child murderer. Also identified, are the possible reasons of what motivates, children who are severely abused and psychologically unstable, to have an increase participation in violent crimes, such as murder. An examination of the characteristics and statistics of patricide, the act of killing one’s father, mother, or close relative, are also reviewed. There is great public awareness of child murderers from newspaper headlines, but very little scientific study. This paper examines surveys and attempts to correlate and identify abuse and over exposure to violence can lead children to murder.
Key words: Parricide, Patricide, National Socialist Movement
Children Who Kill
When we think of children, we think of innocent, loving beings, but we do not think murderer. Children are a different type of killer and for the most part, have different motivations for killing. In my research, most children who murder are exposed to severe abuse, exposed to extreme violence or hate and suffer from underlying psychological disorders. In most cases, children who murder which have suffered with psychological disorders were only diagnosed with conduct disorder(s) and prescribed treatment e.g. therapy.
Early on the morning of May 1, 2011, Joseph Hall shot his sleeping father, Jeff Hall, using his father’s .357 magnum revolver. Joseph Hall was ten years old at the time of the murder and is now on trial for murder at twelve years old. ("D.a.: Boy who," 2012) According to the boy’s testimony, he claimed he did not believe he would be punished, because he watched an episode of the CBS crime drama “Criminal Minds.” In that episode, he said a boy killed his abusive father and was not arrested. The boy said he killed his father because he was tired of abuse and did not want to be separated from his stepmother. ("12-year-old boy in," 2012)
The young boy’s father was a white supremacist and was the regional director of the National Socialist Movement (NSM). ("D.a.: Boy who," 2012) Claims were made that the father would brag about how he taught his son how to shoot a gun and how he was a good disciplinarian. There were many gatherings or meetings for the neo-Nazi movement, held at the father’s house, where the young boy was encouraged to participate. Past allegations from previous custody battles, indicated that the father was abusive to the young boy, physically and allegedly sexually, from an age as early as three years old. Many calls and visits over the years were made from Child Protective Services, but no charges or intervention was ordered.
In following testimonies given at the trial, the boy’s stepmother alleged that the father would go “over-the-top” and “lose control” when disciplining the young boy. She also stated that the boy suffered from “learning disabilities” but was not and had not been treated or psychologically examined prior to the murder. It was stated that the young boy also had several incidents of violence and antisocial behavior exhibited at school and in the home. The behavior included attempts to choke a teacher, tying up animals, etc. This was a troubled home with a severe domestic problem.
Literature Review
The family is the possibly the most violent social group, with the exception of military and police, and the home as the most violent social setting in our society. A person is most likely to be hit or killed in his or her home by another family member, than anywhere else or by any one else. (Gelles & Straus, 1985) Freud’s “Oedipal theory” made the urge to kill one’s father a normal element of the male psyche.(Freud 1918) Parents and children engage in frequent battles of wills, major and minor (Bloch, 1978).
Kathleen M. Heide, a professor of criminology at the University of South Florida, wrote in an article on weapons used by adolescents to kill their parents, indicates that the available statistical sources characteristics of the victim and the offender “are not presented according to the relationship of the victim and the offender.” (Heide, 2012) Descriptions of the children who kill parents and descriptions of the slain parents are not presented.
Joseph Hall 's case is unusual, because such acts of violence by children are exceedingly rare. Dr. Heide conducted a study and found only 16 arrests of a child under the age of eleven in the killing a parent between 1976 and 2007, roughly one every two years. The environment in which a child lives, is generally the cause of the killing. Adding the ability to access weapons such as guns, make it easier for the child perpetrator to kill. Joseph Hall not only had access to a weapon, but was taught how to use it by the victim. The presence of firearms, is the most common risk factor: 82% of fathers, 75% of stepfathers, 65% of mothers and 56% of stepmothers murdered by juveniles, were killed by a firearm of some sort (Heide 1994). Clearly, the pattern partly reflects whether a firearm more easily overcomes an imbalance in size and strength.
Understanding why a particular child killed a parent, requires knowledge of the adolescent, his or her family, and the home environment (Heide 1994). The young boy, Joseph Hall, was conditioned by hate and violence from an early age; mostly in part. because of his father’s participation in the NSM. His home environment, was engulfed by severe abuse from the father. He witnessed his father repeatedly abuse his stepmother and siblings, as well as suffer the abuse too. The father was so invested in his participation with the NSM, that any attention the boy yearned for, was ignored. Children and adolescents are most likely to kill to end abuse or to get their own way. Sometimes they may kill, because of severe mental illness. However, severe mental illness is not as much of a factor with young parricide offenders as with older parricide offenders. Characteristics of parricide offenders are usually white males and are most commonly fifteen to sixteen years old.
(Heide 1994) The family is usually isolated either by geography or behavior and lifestyle from surrounding community. (Mones 1992) The participation in the NSM had isolated the Hall family and they retained their small social circle within the NSM. One or both parents are substance abusers, particularly alcohol. Jeff Hall, the father, was allegedly drunk on a consistent basis. He was also allegedly drunk on the morning of the murder. The crime is always premeditated, in the sense that abused children have thought about killing the abuser for many years. In Joseph’s case he not only thought about it, but had been encouraged to do so, after watching the episode of Criminal Minds. The parent is often sleeping or in a defenseless position when the crime occurs, which does not fit legal definition of “self-defense”. The most tragic characteristics of parricide offenders are that warnings have been ignored, or law enforcement, social services and other agencies repeatedly return the child(s) back to the abuser. Child protective services not only made numerous visits to the Hall’s home, but were aware of the alleged physical and sexual abuse, and did not take the children away or implement some kind of …show more content…
intervention.
Discussion
In 2012, Heide showed that the evidence from her research stated that lack of in-depth data can in part be overcome by combining existing resource,(Heide 2012) but deficits remain. Shortcomings of existing data set remain largely unchanged since publication of her article.
Limitations of These Studies
It is not possible to predict that a particular boy or girl will kill a parent. The reason that parricide cannot be predicted is because parricide is such a statistically unusual event. For example, in 2010, law enforcement agencies across the United States reported to the FBI the victim-offender relationship for 12,996 of the14,748 victims classified as murdered during that year. Of these, 107 were mothers and 135 were fathers slain by their biological children. These 242 victims represent about 2 percent of murder victims.(Warren 1969)
Trials in such murders are even rarer, said Robert Weisberg, a co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, saying he could not recall seeing anyone that young on trial for such a crime in California. According to Dr, Heide, children as young as ten or younger, who are accused of murder present special challenges to courts, because of the longstanding legal belief that children are incapable of formulating the intent to commit the crime and do not understand the magnitude of its consequences; children that young often do not grasp "that death means forever gone.” (Heide, 2012)
Conclusion
A child who kills his parents fits into three categories: severely abused, mentally ill or anti-social. More than 90% have been severely physically, emotionally and often sexually abused. Severely abused children kill their abusive parent to end the abuse. These individuals have been abused by their parent(s) for years. The abuse is typically known to others. Severely abused children have sought help from others and, yet, the abuse has continued. Which in Joseph Hall’s case, Child Protective Services had made multiple visits to the home and was aware of the abuse in the household over the years. These abused children often have tried to run away, considered suicide, and, in some cases, have attempted to kill themselves, although, there is no current statements indicating that Joseph Hall had attempted these actions. Over time, the violence in the home escalates and these individuals become increasingly stressed. They kill the abusive parent, because they are terrified that they or other family members will be seriously harmed or killed. They are typically desperate and see no other way out, but murder.
References
Bloch, D. (1978). So the witch won 't eat me: Fantasy and the child 's fear of infanticide.
New York, NY: Grove.
D.a.: Boy who killed neo-nazi father 'no different ' than other murderers. (2013, October 31). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/10/boy-who-killed-neo-nazi-dad-no-different-than-any-other-murderer.html Daily, M., & Wilson, M.
(1988). Evolutionary social psychology and family homicide. Science, 242, 519-524.
Freud, S. (1918). Totem and taboo: Resemblances between the psychic lives of savages and neurotics. (p. 88). New York, NY: Moffat, Yard & Co. Retrieved from http://www.bartleby.com/281/
Gelles, R. J., & Straus, M. A. (1985). Crime and the family. (pp. 88-110). Thomas:
Springfield,IL.
Heide, K. M. (2012, July 26). [Web Based Recording]. Q&a: Why kids kill parents.,
Retrieved (October 16, 2013) from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18559_162-6383938/q-a-why-kids-kill-parents/ Heide, K.M. (1994). Why kids kill parents:child abuse and adolescent homicide. (95 ed.,
Vol.7371, pp. 5-7). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications (CA).
Mones, P. (1992). When a child kills. New York: Pocket Books.
Warren, M. Q. (1969). The case for differential treatment of delinquents. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 381(1), 47-59. Retrieved (2013, October 16) from http://ann.sagepub.com/content/381/1/47.abstract
12-year-old boy in trial for killing neo-nazi father in california. (2013, October 29). .
Retrieved from
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/12-year-old-boy-in-trial-for-killing-neo-Nazi-father-in-California/articleshow/17010204.cms
Homicide in the family is a theme of great psychological significance. This paper utilizes multiple published articles of Bloch (1978), Daily & Wilson (1988), Freud (1918), Gelles (1985), Heide (1994, 2012), Mones (1992) and Warren (1969), that reports on the research conducted online (Internet) and offline (non-Internet) and reflects understanding of how child abuse and untreated psychological disorders, influence troubled children to potentially murder. This paper includes a review of an article concerning parricide, which is the killing of one’s father. The article is about a ten year old boy, who murdered his abusive, neo-Nazi father, who was in charge of his regions chapter of the National Socialist Movement (NSM), and thought …show more content…
he would not be held accountable for the murder. Attempting to examine the extenuating circumstances and applying to the research found, to better gain an understanding into the psyche of a child murderer. Also identified, are the possible reasons of what motivates, children who are severely abused and psychologically unstable, to have an increase participation in violent crimes, such as murder. An examination of the characteristics and statistics of patricide, the act of killing one’s father, mother, or close relative, are also reviewed. There is great public awareness of child murderers from newspaper headlines, but very little scientific study. This paper examines surveys and attempts to correlate and identify abuse and over exposure to violence can lead children to murder.
Key words: Parricide, Patricide, National Socialist Movement
Children Who Kill
When we think of children, we think of innocent, loving beings, but we do not think murderer. Children are a different type of killer and for the most part, have different motivations for killing. In my research, most children who murder are exposed to severe abuse, exposed to extreme violence or hate and suffer from underlying psychological disorders. In most cases, children who murder which have suffered with psychological disorders were only diagnosed with conduct disorder(s) and prescribed treatment e.g. therapy.
Early on the morning of May 1, 2011, Joseph Hall shot his sleeping father, Jeff Hall, using his father’s .357 magnum revolver. Joseph Hall was ten years old at the time of the murder and is now on trial for murder at twelve years old. ("D.a.: Boy who," 2012) According to the boy’s testimony, he claimed he did not believe he would be punished, because he watched an episode of the CBS crime drama “Criminal Minds.” In that episode, he said a boy killed his abusive father and was not arrested. The boy said he killed his father because he was tired of abuse and did not want to be separated from his stepmother. ("12-year-old boy in," 2012)
The young boy’s father was a white supremacist and was the regional director of the National Socialist Movement (NSM). ("D.a.: Boy who," 2012) Claims were made that the father would brag about how he taught his son how to shoot a gun and how he was a good disciplinarian. There were many gatherings or meetings for the neo-Nazi movement, held at the father’s house, where the young boy was encouraged to participate. Past allegations from previous custody battles, indicated that the father was abusive to the young boy, physically and allegedly sexually, from an age as early as three years old. Many calls and visits over the years were made from Child Protective Services, but no charges or intervention was ordered.
In following testimonies given at the trial, the boy’s stepmother alleged that the father would go “over-the-top” and “lose control” when disciplining the young boy. She also stated that the boy suffered from “learning disabilities” but was not and had not been treated or psychologically examined prior to the murder. It was stated that the young boy also had several incidents of violence and antisocial behavior exhibited at school and in the home. The behavior included attempts to choke a teacher, tying up animals, etc. This was a troubled home with a severe domestic problem.
Literature Review
The family is the possibly the most violent social group, with the exception of military and police, and the home as the most violent social setting in our society. A person is most likely to be hit or killed in his or her home by another family member, than anywhere else or by any one else. (Gelles & Straus, 1985) Freud’s “Oedipal theory” made the urge to kill one’s father a normal element of the male psyche.(Freud 1918) Parents and children engage in frequent battles of wills, major and minor (Bloch, 1978).
Kathleen M. Heide, a professor of criminology at the University of South Florida, wrote in an article on weapons used by adolescents to kill their parents, indicates that the available statistical sources characteristics of the victim and the offender “are not presented according to the relationship of the victim and the offender.” (Heide, 2012) Descriptions of the children who kill parents and descriptions of the slain parents are not presented.
Joseph Hall 's case is unusual, because such acts of violence by children are exceedingly rare. Dr. Heide conducted a study and found only 16 arrests of a child under the age of eleven in the killing a parent between 1976 and 2007, roughly one every two years. The environment in which a child lives, is generally the cause of the killing. Adding the ability to access weapons such as guns, make it easier for the child perpetrator to kill. Joseph Hall not only had access to a weapon, but was taught how to use it by the victim. The presence of firearms, is the most common risk factor: 82% of fathers, 75% of stepfathers, 65% of mothers and 56% of stepmothers murdered by juveniles, were killed by a firearm of some sort (Heide 1994). Clearly, the pattern partly reflects whether a firearm more easily overcomes an imbalance in size and strength.
Understanding why a particular child killed a parent, requires knowledge of the adolescent, his or her family, and the home environment (Heide 1994). The young boy, Joseph Hall, was conditioned by hate and violence from an early age; mostly in part. because of his father’s participation in the NSM. His home environment, was engulfed by severe abuse from the father. He witnessed his father repeatedly abuse his stepmother and siblings, as well as suffer the abuse too. The father was so invested in his participation with the NSM, that any attention the boy yearned for, was ignored. Children and adolescents are most likely to kill to end abuse or to get their own way. Sometimes they may kill, because of severe mental illness. However, severe mental illness is not as much of a factor with young parricide offenders as with older parricide offenders. Characteristics of parricide offenders are usually white males and are most commonly fifteen to sixteen years old.
(Heide 1994) The family is usually isolated either by geography or behavior and lifestyle from surrounding community. (Mones 1992) The participation in the NSM had isolated the Hall family and they retained their small social circle within the NSM. One or both parents are substance abusers, particularly alcohol. Jeff Hall, the father, was allegedly drunk on a consistent basis. He was also allegedly drunk on the morning of the murder. The crime is always premeditated, in the sense that abused children have thought about killing the abuser for many years. In Joseph’s case he not only thought about it, but had been encouraged to do so, after watching the episode of Criminal Minds. The parent is often sleeping or in a defenseless position when the crime occurs, which does not fit legal definition of “self-defense”. The most tragic characteristics of parricide offenders are that warnings have been ignored, or law enforcement, social services and other agencies repeatedly return the child(s) back to the abuser. Child protective services not only made numerous visits to the Hall’s home, but were aware of the alleged physical and sexual abuse, and did not take the children away or implement some kind of …show more content…
intervention.
Discussion
In 2012, Heide showed that the evidence from her research stated that lack of in-depth data can in part be overcome by combining existing resource,(Heide 2012) but deficits remain. Shortcomings of existing data set remain largely unchanged since publication of her article.
Limitations of These Studies
It is not possible to predict that a particular boy or girl will kill a parent. The reason that parricide cannot be predicted is because parricide is such a statistically unusual event. For example, in 2010, law enforcement agencies across the United States reported to the FBI the victim-offender relationship for 12,996 of the14,748 victims classified as murdered during that year. Of these, 107 were mothers and 135 were fathers slain by their biological children. These 242 victims represent about 2 percent of murder victims.(Warren 1969)
Trials in such murders are even rarer, said Robert Weisberg, a co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, saying he could not recall seeing anyone that young on trial for such a crime in California. According to Dr, Heide, children as young as ten or younger, who are accused of murder present special challenges to courts, because of the longstanding legal belief that children are incapable of formulating the intent to commit the crime and do not understand the magnitude of its consequences; children that young often do not grasp "that death means forever gone.” (Heide, 2012)
Conclusion
A child who kills his parents fits into three categories: severely abused, mentally ill or anti-social. More than 90% have been severely physically, emotionally and often sexually abused. Severely abused children kill their abusive parent to end the abuse. These individuals have been abused by their parent(s) for years. The abuse is typically known to others. Severely abused children have sought help from others and, yet, the abuse has continued. Which in Joseph Hall’s case, Child Protective Services had made multiple visits to the home and was aware of the abuse in the household over the years. These abused children often have tried to run away, considered suicide, and, in some cases, have attempted to kill themselves, although, there is no current statements indicating that Joseph Hall had attempted these actions. Over time, the violence in the home escalates and these individuals become increasingly stressed. They kill the abusive parent, because they are terrified that they or other family members will be seriously harmed or killed. They are typically desperate and see no other way out, but murder.
References
Bloch, D. (1978). So the witch won 't eat me: Fantasy and the child 's fear of infanticide.
New York, NY: Grove.
D.a.: Boy who killed neo-nazi father 'no different ' than other murderers. (2013, October 31). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/10/boy-who-killed-neo-nazi-dad-no-different-than-any-other-murderer.html Daily, M., & Wilson, M.
(1988). Evolutionary social psychology and family homicide. Science, 242, 519-524.
Freud, S. (1918). Totem and taboo: Resemblances between the psychic lives of savages and neurotics. (p. 88). New York, NY: Moffat, Yard & Co. Retrieved from http://www.bartleby.com/281/
Gelles, R. J., & Straus, M. A. (1985). Crime and the family. (pp. 88-110). Thomas:
Springfield,IL.
Heide, K. M. (2012, July 26). [Web Based Recording]. Q&a: Why kids kill parents.,
Retrieved (October 16, 2013) from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18559_162-6383938/q-a-why-kids-kill-parents/ Heide, K.M. (1994). Why kids kill parents:child abuse and adolescent homicide. (95 ed.,
Vol.7371, pp. 5-7). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications (CA).
Mones, P. (1992). When a child kills. New York: Pocket Books.
Warren, M. Q. (1969). The case for differential treatment of delinquents. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 381(1), 47-59. Retrieved (2013, October 16) from http://ann.sagepub.com/content/381/1/47.abstract
12-year-old boy in trial for killing neo-nazi father in california. (2013, October 29). .
Retrieved from
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/12-year-old-boy-in-trial-for-killing-neo-Nazi-father-in-California/articleshow/17010204.cms