Mothers who murder : perceptions of female offenders and the Canadian infanticide code
department or school: Arts and Sciences, Irving K. Barber School of (Okanagan)
department or school: Psychology, Department of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Udala, Megan Rose
issued: 2020-05-19T16:51:34Z
issued: 2020
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: There is a large body of research pertaining to the factors that affect perceptions of crime and sentencing decisions. Research suggests that females consistently receive shorter sentences than their male counterparts (Auerhahn, 2007; Rodriguez, Curry, & Lee, 2006). Further, crime characteristics such as victim age and victim relationship to the perpetrator may influence sentencing decisions; for example, studies have shown that a murder against a child is often considered more serious than a murder against an adult (Garvey, 1998; Kleinfeld, 2012). The murder of a child aged eighteen years or younger by a parent is called a filicide (Resnick, 1969). An infanticide occurs if a child is murdered within the first year of the infantâs life. According to the Canadian Criminal Code, infanticide is also a legal charge, applied only when a mother kills her newly born child and has not recovered from the effects of giving birth (R.S., c. C-34, s. 216). If a father murders his newly born child, he could receive a first-degree murder charge. An infanticide conviction results in a maximum of five years in prison; whereas, a first-degree murder conviction can result in life in prison (twenty-five years in prison). This dissertation incorporates three studies that investigated the influence of four factors on perceived seriousness of the crime: (a) the presentation of infanticide information, (b) age of the victim (c) the victimâs relationship to the perpetrator, and (d) mental status (i.e., psychosis) of the perpetrator. Results indicated that in a university sample, participants provided shorter sentences for female perpetrators who murder their own infant children in comparison to non-relative, older children. In a community sample, participants provided shorter sentences for women who murder younger children in comparison to older children. Further, participants in both samples provided shorter sentences for perpetrators who were mentally ill at the time of the crime. The pur…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/74525
note: MOTHERS WHO MURDER: PERCEPTIONS OF FEMALE OFFENDERS AND THE CANADIAN INFANTICIDE CODE by Megan Rose Udala B.A. (Honours), University of British Columbia, 2014 M.A., University of British Columbia, 2016 A DISSERTATION PROPOSAL SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTRATE OF PHILOSOPHY in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Psychology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) September 2020 © Megan Rose Udala, 2020 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: MOTHERS WHO MURDER: PERCEPTIONS OF FEMALE OFFENDERS AND THE CANADIAN INFANTICIDE CODE submitted by MEGAN UDALA in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of DOCTRATE OF PHILOSPHY . Dr. Paul G. Davies, Psychology/Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Supervisor Dr. Maya Libben, Psychology/Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Lesley Lutes, Psychology/Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Christine Schreyer, Anthropology/Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences University Examiner Dr. Eden King, Department of Psychological Sciences/Rice University External Examiner iii Abstract There is a large body of research pertaining to the factors that affect perceptions of crime and sentencing decisions. Research suggests that females consistently receive shorter sentences than their male counterparts (Auerhahn, 2007; Rodriguez, Curry, & Lee, 2006). Further, crime characteristics such as victim age and victim relationship to the perpetrator may influence sentencing decisions; for example, studies have shown that a murder against a child is often considered more serious than a murder against an adult (Garvey, 1998; Kleinfeld, 2012). The murder of a child aged eighteen years or younger by a parent is called a filicide (Resnick, 1969). An infanticide occurs if a child is murdered…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2020-09
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0390924
language: eng
degree discipline: Psychology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/74525