Maternal Filicide

There are a few reasons some mothers commit the unthinkable act of maternal filicide. First of all, maternal filicide is the act of  mothers killing their own children. Mothers would normally not kill their children unless they are seriously disturbed. One reason that a mother may kill her child is that she rationalizes and believes that killing her child is in the child's best interest. This is called "altruistic filicide." Another reason a mother would commit maternal filicide is if she is hearing voices or has some other non-understandable reason. This is called "acutely psychotic filicide." Another reason, called "fatal maltreatment filicide," is where a mother kills her child accidentally, but the child is killed due the sum of abuse. "Unwanted child filicide" is when a mother kills her child because the child is a hindrance in the mother's life. Lastly, "spouse revenge filicide" is when a mother kills her child to hurt the father. Again, these only really occur if the mother is seriously mentally ill. These acts may seem impossible, but they do occur in real life.