[I]t is truly outstanding, a must read for clinicians in both psychiatry and obstetrics, as well as forensic psychiatrists, criminal defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges. What sets this text apart is that it goes well beyond a discussion of the phenomenon of infanticide to formulation of plans of prevention and management for at-risk mothers and children, making this a useful resource for anyone involved in the mental health of mothers and their young children.
Margaret Spinelli has gathered a group of experts to examine the subject of maternal infanticide from biologic, psychosocial, legal, and cultural perspectives. Her book handles the material sensitively, with an eye toward prevention. It also serves as a compendium of knowledge to aid mental health providers in diagnosing and treating psychiatric disorders related to infanticide, while assisting experts involved in the legal defense of women charged with the crime. . . . Because so many personal and societal taboos must be overcome in order to kill one's own child, this central question begs for an answer: What is it about the biological and psychosocial factors that lead these women to cross the boundary from violent impulse to action? In the end, however, this excellent book leaves the readers well equipped to ponder this question themselves.
This excellent work should be a valuable tool for psychiatric and medical professionals, legal professionals, public health professionals, and interested laypersons.
I would highly recommend it to all. As for me, I am going to keep this book with me, because as a forensic pathologist, I have to deal with infanticide cases almost on a daily basis, and now I know where to fall back upon, when I am stuck.
This new book is essential reading for any lawyer handling an infanticide case. This volume is the first book to cross the line between the mental health professional and the lawyer on this subject. It is easy for the lawyer to read, has loads of references for further research and most importantly lets you know who to contact to continue the educational process. Its hard to believe that a lawyer could be considered competent to handle one of these cases without the information in Dr. Spinelli's new book.
We do recommend this book to clinicians treating women of childbearing age and to attorneys seeking to increase their knowledge about perinatal mental illnesses.
From the Inside Flap
Maternal infanticide, or the murder of a child in its first year of life by its mother, elicits sorrow, anger, horror, and outrage. But the perpetrator is often a victim, too.
The editor of this revealing work asks us to reach beyond rage, stretch the limits of compassion, and enter the minds of mothers who kill their babies -- with the hope that advancing the knowledge base and stimulating inquiry in this neglected area of maternal-infant research will save young lives.
Written to help remedy today's dearth of up-to-date, research-based literature, this unique volume brings together a multidisciplinary group of 17 experts who focus on the psychiatric perspective of this tragic cause of infant death.
The first of four parts introduces historical and epidemiological data. Part II discusses the psychiatric, psychological, cultural, and biological underpinnings of infanticide, detailing how to identify, evaluate, and treat postpartum psychiatric disorders. Contemporary legislation, criminal defenses, and disparate treatment in the U.S. law are described in Part III and compared with the United Kingdom's model of probation and treatment. Part IV focuses on clinical experience with mothers as perpetrators and countertransference in therapy, mother-infant interactions (from healthy to pathological), and methods of early intervention and prevention.
This balanced perspective on a highly emotional issue will find a wide audience among psychiatric and medical professionals (child, clinical, and forensic psychiatrists and psychologists; social workers; obstetricians/gynecologists and midwives; nurses; and pediatricians), legal professionals (judges, attorneys, law students), public health professionals, and interested laypersons.
From the Back Cover
Maternal infanticide, or the murder of a child in its first year of life by its mother, elicits sorrow, anger, horror, and outrage. But the perpetrator is often a victim, too.
The editor of this revealing work asks us to reach beyond rage, stretch the limits of compassion, and enter the minds of mothers who kill their babies--with the hope that advancing the knowledge base and stimulating inquiry in this neglected area of maternal-infant research will save young lives.
Written to help remedy today's dearth of up-to-date, research-based literature, this unique volume brings together a multidisciplinary group of 17 experts who focus on the psychiatric perspective of this tragic cause of infant death.
The first of four parts introduces historical and epidemiological data. Part II discusses the psychiatric, psychological, cultural, and biological underpinnings of infanticide, detailing how to identify, evaluate, and treat postpartum psychiatric disorders. Contemporary legislation, criminal defenses, and disparate treatment in the U.S. law are described in Part III and compared with the United Kingdom's model of probation and treatment. Part IV focuses on clinical experience with mothers as perpetrators and countertransference in therapy, mother-infant interactions (from healthy to pathological), and methods of early intervention and prevention.
This balanced perspective on a highly emotional issue will find a wide audience among psychiatric and medical professionals (child, clinical, and forensic psychiatrists and psychologists; social workers; obstetricians/gynecologists and midwives; nurses; and pediatricians), legal professionals (judges, attorneys, law students), public health professionals, and interested laypersons.
About the Author
Margaret G. Spinelli, M.D., is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of the Maternal Mental Health Program at New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York, New York.
