ABSTRACT
This chapter explores infanticide and neonaticide and other forms of filicide, the killing of children by their parents, including those committed by, and within couples. It describes how such killings can be seen as the products of fantasy that have, until that moment, been resisted. Yarwood notes the role played by mental illness in child deaths, as a significant proportion of parents who kill their children do so in the context of psychosis, including being under the delusion that they are behaving altruistically. Although a relatively rare event, intimate partner homicide followed by suicide is an act of violence that often occurs within a family context and is predominantly perpetrated by men. The facts of extreme couple violence against children, the dangers to children under the age of one, and pregnancy violence, point to the urgent question of perinatal assessment and care of the parents as well as the unborn child.
