Cavanagh Kate, Dobash R Emerson, Dobash Russell P
Department of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK.
Child Abuse Negl. 2007 Jul;31(7):731-46. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.12.016. Epub 2007 Jul 12.
This study examined the backgrounds of fathers who fatally abuse their children and the contexts within which these homicides occur. The type of relationship between victim, perpetrator, and the victim's mother was a particular interest.
Data were gathered from 26 cases of fatal child abuse perpetrated by fathers derived from the wider Murder in Britain study. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from extensive prison case files of men serving life sentences for child murder.
This was a group of undereducated, underemployed men with significant criminal histories. All except one victim had been subjected to previous violence by the offender, almost three-quarter of whom had also perpetrated violence against their intimate partners (the child's birth mother). Many men had unreasonable expectations and low tolerance levels of normal childhood behaviors, and many appeared jealous and resentful of these young children. All 26 victims were under 4 years of age. Sixty-two percent of the offenders were stepfathers and in only four cases was the perpetrator a birth father married to the birth mother. Stepfathers had more disrupted and disadvantaged backgrounds and experiences than birth fathers.
Findings suggest that fathers who perpetrate fatal child abuse have a propensity to use violence against children in their care and intimate partners, raising questions about the gender dynamics and generational boundaries operating in these families. The nature and type of intimate relationship (whether married or cohabiting) and fathering relationship (whether birth or de facto) were important differentiating factors in these homicides as well as characteristics of the offender.
Professionals working in child protection strive to provide effective services to children and families, ever vigilant to the possibility of the death of a child as a consequence of an assault. By and large, fathers (either biological or de facto) as the perpetrators of such assaults have received minimal attention in both policy and practice. Findings from this study suggest that practitioners need to be cognizant of men's attitudes towards and expectations of fathering (particularly stepfathering) which may present increased levels of risk to both children and intimate partners.
本研究调查了对子女实施致命虐待的父亲的背景以及这些杀人案件发生的背景。受害者、施暴者与受害者母亲之间的关系类型是特别感兴趣的内容。
数据来自于“英国谋杀案”更广泛研究中的26起父亲对子女实施致命虐待的案例。从因杀害儿童而被判终身监禁的男性的大量监狱案件档案中收集了定量和定性数据。
这是一群受教育程度低、就业不足且有重大犯罪史的男性。除一名受害者外，所有受害者此前都遭受过犯罪者的暴力侵害，其中近四分之三的犯罪者还对其亲密伴侣（孩子的生母）实施过暴力。许多男性对正常的童年行为有着不合理的期望和低容忍度，而且许多人似乎对这些幼儿心怀嫉妒和怨恨。所有26名受害者均未满4岁。62%的犯罪者是继父，只有4起案件的犯罪者是与孩子生母结婚的生父。继父的背景和经历比生父更混乱、更不利。
研究结果表明，对子女实施致命虐待的父亲倾向于对其照料的儿童和亲密伴侣使用暴力，这引发了对这些家庭中性别动态和代际界限的质疑。亲密关系（无论已婚还是同居）和父子关系（无论亲生还是事实）的性质和类型是这些杀人案件以及犯罪者特征的重要区分因素。
从事儿童保护工作的专业人员努力为儿童和家庭提供有效的服务，时刻警惕儿童因袭击而死亡的可能性。总体而言，作为此类袭击实施者的父亲（无论是亲生父亲还是事实父亲）在政策和实践中都很少受到关注。本研究的结果表明，从业者需要认识到男性对为人父（尤其是继父身份）的态度和期望，这可能会给儿童和亲密伴侣带来更高的风险。
