Mad Women and Desperate Girls: Infanticide and Child Murder in Law and Myth
43 Pages Posted: 15 Sep 2011
Date Written: 2006
Abstract
I begin this article with a comparison between the stereotype dominated understanding of infanticide and child homicide in the United States and the statistical landscape it obscures. I then turn to the history of the crime of infanticide, a history which confirms that a fascination with deviant women has long dominated the story of infanticide. The article concludes with the exploration of what I call the "Good Mother Defense." That exploration reveals the extent to which the fate of a woman tried for child homicide hinges on whether the jury sees her as a good mother, rather than on the prosecutors' ability to prove the elements of the crime charged.
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