Vellut N, Simmat-Durand L, Tursz A
CERMES 3, (CNRS UMR 8211, EHESS, Inserm U988, université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris-Cité), 45, rue des Saints-Pères, 75270 Paris cedex 06, France.
Encephale. 2013 Oct;39(5):352-9. doi: 10.1016/j.encep.2012.10.003. Epub 2012 Dec 14.
Neonaticide is the term used to refer to the killing of newborn infants within the first 24 hours of life. A recent study conducted by Inserm Unit 750 found a frequency of 2.1 cases of neonaticide for 100,000 births in France. The persistence of these crimes raises serious issues, and scientists have attempted to explain this by the profile of neonaticidal mothers: young, or even teenage, single, primiparous, and socially deprived. The present study sought to question this profile, and to suggest a new profile for neonaticidal mothers.
This retrospective study over the years 1996-2000 comprised 32 cases of neonaticide perpetrated in three French regions. Seventeen solved cases of these 32 cases generated 54 documents by expert consultants, mainly psychiatric and psychological expertise, studied and analysed here using Modalisa software for quantitative analyses and Nvivo software for qualitative data.
No single socio-demographic profile was observed. The mothers were in contrasting situations at the time of the event. There were few psychotic profiles. The other psychopathological disturbances detected were very often related to the event. The most surprising feature in the expert reports describing the neonaticidal mothers was the existence of what we have termed "descriptive absent-factors". These mothers had not experienced major trauma in childhood such as the death of persons close or foster care. They were not living in an environment of family violence. They did not exhibit addictive or self-harm behaviour. Their parents before them had similar profiles, except three cases of alcoholism. Their parentage, and that of the infants, was not an issue. The most widely described personality features were immaturity, dependency on others, withdrawal, inhibition, emptiness, lack of affectivity, non-expressiveness, and devaluation of self-image. The very impoverished relational environment of these mothers also appears in the expertise data. Their affective and relational foundations were insecure.
The "classic" profile of the neonaticidal mother as being young, single, and primiparous is not confirmed in this study. Recent American and European studies reach similar conclusions. More than half of these mothers already had other children; more than half were living with a partner. Nor did these mothers have an evident psychopathological profile, and even less so a psychopathic profile. This study suggests a "psycho-relational" profile for the neonaticidal mother: immature, affectively dependent, expressing herself very little, and experiencing considerable affective isolation.
These neonaticidal mothers did not present any specific socio-demographic or evident psychopathological profile. The study nevertheless enabled definition of a "psycho-relational" profile.
新生儿杀婴罪是指在婴儿出生后24小时内将其杀害的行为。法国国家健康与医学研究院第750研究室最近开展的一项研究发现，在法国每10万例分娩中，新生儿杀婴罪的发生率为2.1例。此类犯罪持续存在引发了严重问题，科学家们试图通过杀婴母亲的特征来解释这一现象：年轻，甚至是青少年，单身，初产，且社会地位低下。本研究旨在对这一特征提出质疑，并提出杀婴母亲的新特征。
这项对1996年至2000年期间的回顾性研究涵盖了法国三个地区发生的32起新生儿杀婴案件。这32起案件中的17起已破案，专家顾问为此生成了54份文件，主要是精神病学和心理学方面的专业意见，在此使用Modalisa软件进行定量分析，使用Nvivo软件进行定性数据分析。
未观察到单一的社会人口学特征。这些母亲在案发时情况各异。精神病态特征较少。检测到的其他精神病理障碍往往与该事件有关。在描述杀婴母亲的专家报告中，最令人惊讶的特征是存在我们所称的“描述性缺失因素”。这些母亲在童年时期没有经历过重大创伤，如亲人死亡或寄养。她们没有生活在家庭暴力环境中。她们没有表现出成瘾或自残行为。她们的父母在她们之前也有类似特征，只有三例酗酒情况。她们的出身以及婴儿的出身都不是问题。描述最为广泛的人格特征是不成熟、依赖他人、孤僻、拘谨、空虚、缺乏情感、不善表达以及自我形象贬低。这些母亲极为匮乏的人际关系环境在专业意见数据中也有所体现。她们的情感和人际关系基础不稳定。
本研究未证实杀婴母亲“年轻、单身、初产”的“经典”特征。美国和欧洲最近的研究也得出了类似结论。这些母亲中超过一半已经有其他孩子；超过一半与伴侣同居。这些母亲也没有明显的精神病理特征，更没有精神病态特征。本研究提出了杀婴母亲的“心理 - 关系”特征：不成熟、情感依赖、表达极少、情感极度孤立。
这些杀婴母亲没有呈现出任何特定的社会人口学或明显的精神病理特征。不过，该研究仍能够定义出一种“心理 - 关系”特征。
