Why Kids Kill Parents

Introduction to Psychology

Why kids kill parents

BY Kathleen M. Heide Psychology Today Magazine

HOW A LEGACY OF CHILD ABUSE LEADS TO HOMICIDE

I chose this article because I have always been astonished at how children can do this to their

parents and what drove them to the choices they made. Did they have any other choices or did

they use all of their chooses up that they had? This article supplied a lot of answers to me.

According to this Article:

Between 1977 and 1986, more than 300 parents were killed each year by their own children.

An in-depth analysis of the FBI Supplementary Homicide Report for this period shows that, in the

great majority of cases, the child who killed was a white male. These numbers are unbelievable to me!

These are neglected and abused children whose options are limited--children who honestly think

they have no other way out. Why are the killers teenagers? Is the question I asked myself.

The answer from this article is that child under 11 do not understand the concept of death and

that their actions which lead to an irreversible result.

Adolescents are more likely to kill because the normal turbulence of adolescence runs

up against constraints they perceive have been placed upon them in a setting of limited alternatives.

Unlike adults, kids cannot simply leave. The article calls teenagers "parricide offenders" when

conditions in the home are intolerable but their alternatives are limited. The law has made it a crime

for kids to runaway, the article states that many have tried to run but have been returned to their

homes because they have no where else to go. Adolescence is a stormy time, children going

through it need the support of parents, who must give them room to grow and help them confront

tough issues. Those who commit parricide have parents who have not been available to help them.

The article, breaks it down onto three types of individuals who commit parricide.

1.The severely abused child who is pushed beyond his or her limits.

2. The severely mentally ill child.

3. The darling of the tabloids, the dangerously antisocial child.

#1 The severely abused child is the most frequently encountered type of offender. more than 90 %

have been abused by their parents. They killed because they could no longer tolerate conditions at

home. These children were psychologically abused by one or both parents and often suffered

physical, sexual, and verbal abuse as well--and witnessed it given to others in the household.

For them, the killings represented an act of desperation, the only way out for them.

#2 Only on occasion does