Geoffrey R. McKee

This is an excellent source book for professionals interested in women who murder their children. The author has created a matrix system to help delineate supportive and risk variables present in preganancy and after pregnancy to demonstrate when intervention could have been succesful at interrupting the homicidal sequence. 14 subtypes of women were introduced depending on their mental state and motives for the murder. These subtypes were also grouped in clusters, with Detached, Abusive/Neglectful, Psychotic/Depressed, Retaliatory and Psychopathic defined as the primary cluster groups. I found this book extremely interesting as it provides an organizational system for the professional to consider subtypes of child murder. It also gives the clinician working with a mother at risk specific signs to look for that a mother may be escalating in risk towards an impulsive or planned act of homicide toward her children.… (more)