ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the expressions of violence seen in the cases, and the representation and symbolism of these expressions in, and after, death. It illustrates the themes of 'hidden' violence and masking specific to this argument on symbolic violence. While risk assessments show deviance and violence to be situated in demographic and individual factors, such assessments as a means to detect potential filicide risks are not always successful. The chapter focuses on representations of violence that violate Western society's fundamental duty towards the protection of children. Masking is discussed as a symbolic interactional technique, in the context of dramaturgy, for analysing the nature of perpetrator violence and uncovering the reason(s) behind dysfunctional state intervention. The act or series of acts of violence on their own, without a context, have little meaning. The home has traditionally been, and still is, a private space, which means that much of the violence that takes place is hidden.
