Examining everything from the parent's gender, age and marital status to where they lived to possible motives including a history of family violence, Dawson looked for patterns and trends to identify strategies for prevention, particularly similarities and differences between mothers and fathers.
"Cases of filicide by mothers and fathers often differ in a variety of ways, as shown by this study and other research," said Dawson, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Public Policy in Criminal Justice and heads U of G's Centre for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence.
Among her findings were the following:
More males than females were accused nationwide, a difference that appears to be increasing.
Female accused were more common among people under 18, and males dominated in older age groups.
Women made up four out of five accused who were single and never married, and men represented two-thirds of accused who were divorced, separated or widowed.
More men than women were accused when revenge or jealousy was the motive.
Most accused were biological parents. When stepchildren were killed, nine of 10 accused were stepfathers. While numbers remain small, the proportion of accused who were step-parents, and particularly stepfathers, appears to be increasing.
Since 1991, more reports of family violence have occurred before filicides.
Fathers are more likely than mothers to commit suicide after killing a child, although the likelihood of either parent committing suicide has decreased in recent years.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151028123953.htm