Men Killing their Children in the Context of Custody Disputes - Term Paper Example

Name: Tutor: Title: Men Killing Their Children Institution: Date: Men killing their children in the context of custody disputes Outline Reasons for men killing their children. Factors contributing to the killings. The role of the women in families and society. Judicial decisions. Effects of children’s death to the women. Introduction In the recent past, the cases of men killing their children have been on the rise. This is especially after the divorce. Many children have died as a result of this conflict which arises from the custody disputes. In most cases, the mothers are usually granted custody right with the fathers being granted visitation rights. However, this decision does not go well with some of the men. This is mainly because most of them love their children so much but find it difficult to get over their mothers. In most cases, the men will still remain biter about the separation considering that they have to share their assets or wealth with the ex-partners. During the visitation period the men will still have to meet with their ex- partners. This situation makes it very difficult for the men to move forward. However the main reason for killing their children maybe as a result of frustrations or trying to hurt their ex-partners. Most mothers are usually attached so much to their children and would not want to loose them. The men seem to have noticed this fact and are committing the acts of killing their children so as to hurt their mother (Kirkwood, 2011). Most women have suffered greatly as a result of loosing their children. The paper will thus analyze the issues using a case example and also three theories of criminology. A case study drawn from the media The story was reported in the Age newspaper in the United States of America. In the story, the father was found guilty of killing his three children (Petrie, 2010). All the children were below the age of ten years. This case was quite shocking to the nation and the father was criticized for his actions. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole. This is after he lost the appeal. The father was not remorseful for his actions as he did not believe he had received such a harsh penalty. The mother of the children was quite distressed and so was the family. The grandmother even collapsed in the court room. Although the lawyer argued that he had a medical condition tat could trigger his actions, the jury did not accept it. However, according to the article, the father admitted that he committed the criminal and barbaric act in order to get back to their mother. It was purely an act of revenge against the mother. The man had no issues with the children but hurting them would hurt their mother permanently and that is why he resorted to the act. This story highlights the fact that men kill their children for the sake of revenge against their ex-partners. Criminology Theories Victimology This theory is mainly scientific in nature and it tries to explain the relationship between the victims and the offenders, the victims and the criminal justice system. The theory also tries to analyze the relationship between the victim and social groups (Karmen, 2003). In this theory, the victim is usually the person who has been affected directly by the perpetrator of the crime. During the court proceedings, the victim will always play a major role in the sentencing of the perpetrator. The courts will always try to establish whether there was any relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. The victim will also be given an opportunity to speak to the offender after the sentencing. This is mainly for the purpose of healing the victim. According to this theory, the victim of such crime will always suffer a lot emotionally due to the crime (Schneider, 2001). This may result to self blame, nervousness, anger and lack of sleep. If the victim is counseled it may lead to fatalities This theory therefore highlights the plight in which the victims who in this case are the mothers will have to go through after the crime has been committed. Most women would end up with mental breakdown due to the effects of this crime. The men who kill their children have a clear motive. This is considering the fact that they once had a close relationship with the victims. This makes the crime quite serious as it is mainly intentional. This is despite the fact that they may have been granted visitation rights. This theory therefore suggests that the men may not be having any problem with their children but they intend to harm their mothers emotionally through killing the children. The relationship between the victim and the court is mainly for the purpose of sentencing and delivering justice (Sebba, 1996). The courts should thus consider the suffering the mother will have to undergo. Hegemonic Masculinity This theory is mainly based on the perception of men in the society. Most societies will always view men more aggressive than women due to the fact that they are masculine (Demetriou, 2001). This theory also puts forward the fact that most men will always want to dominate other men while subordinating the females. This theory thus recognizes the fact that men believe that they are superior to women and they should always be better than them. This theory also highlights the fact that women usually find themselves in a less privileged situation due to the nature of the society. The society discourages women from performing a lot of tasks which is believed to be for the men. This theory thus highlights the fact that most men would not want to compete with women. If a woman wins over a man then it becomes quite difficult for the man to bear and will always be looking for means of winning again. This theory therefore explains why most men will always kill their children in order to hurt their wives. In most cases, the courts do not consider the fact that men value their children a lot. In this context the women are usually granted custody of the children while the men are granted visitation rights. This does not go well with most men. The courts may at times decide that the ex-partners should share their wealth and the man should pay for the upkeep of the children. In some instances, most of the wealth accumulated is mainly by the men. This situation therefore translates to a loss on the side of the men and a win to the side of the woman. Since the theory suggests that men will always want to dominate women then this becomes an issue (Galdas, 2009). Most men belie e that the courts decision is not fair enough as it grants women the victory. This forces the men to look for other means of hurting the women in an attempt to show them that they are not losers. The only option is therefore killing the children as it will bring more pain to the women and prove to them that they cannot win against the men. Post Structural Feminism This theory is mainly concerned with the gender issues in the society. The theory is also based on feminism and structural thoughts (Randall, 2010). Most men perceive women to be very passive people who should not be better than them at any cost. This leads to the thought that a man will always be superior to the women due to his structure. The right of women to perform some activities such as voting is not recognized by most men. The ownership to property is also not approved by most of the men. This theory therefore highlights the existence of discrimination of women due to their gender (Messer-Davidow, 2002). According to this theory, the woman is not seen as being capable of achieving results or being able to develop anything (Zajko, 2006). This thought is present in most men. The fact t that women are regarded as passive therefore means that it is easy to manipulate them. When the women are granted the custody of the children, most of their ex-partners are not satisfied as they consider women to be weak. They may also be given the right to access and own certain properties. This does not go down well with most men as the properties may have been theirs at some point. This therefore leads to bitterness and the men eager to seek revenge against the women. With this in mind, the men will opt to kill the children so as to make her suffer considering that they are weak. Conclusion In conclusion it is apparent that men have increasingly been killing their children due to despites arising from custody issues. The main reason for killing g the children has mainly been for the purpose of revenge. The men who kill their children do not do it out of hating them. In fact most fathers love their children. The theories have however highlighted one fact which is the emotional nature of women. Most of the women will end up suffering permanently once they lose their children. Since the men have discovered this issue they do it intentionally. It is also evident that most men are not satisfied with the courts decisions and thus look for means that will ensure their ex-partners are completely hurt. These factors therefore lead to the increase in the killing of children by their fathers despite the fact that they are innocent. Bibliography Karmen, A, 2003, Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology, Wadsworth Publishing. Schneider, H, 2001, Victimological developments in the world during the past three decades, International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 45, 449-468. Sebba, L, 1996, Third Parties, Victims and the Criminal Justice System, Ohio State University Press, Columbus. Randall, V, 2010, Feminism in Theory and Methods in Political Science. Marsh, David. Stoker, Gerry. (eds.), Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, P. 116. Messer-Davidow, E, 2002, Disciplining Feminism: From Social Activism to Academic Discourse. Durham, Duke University Press. Zajko, V, 2006, laughing with Medusa: classical myth and feminist thought, Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 445. Demetriou, D, 2001, Theory and Society: Connell’s Concept of Hegemonic Masculinity: A Critique, Vol. 30, No. 3 pp. 337-361. Galdas, P, 2009, Men, Masculinity and Help-Seeking; John Wiley and Sons Inc. Kirkwood, D, 2011, It’s Not Angst Over Custody: Fathers Kill Their Children to Punish Their Ex-Partners, Retrieved on 17 Apr. 12 from, . Petrie, A, 2010, Guilty: jury convicts Farquharson of murdering three boys, Retrieved on 17 April 2012 from, < http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/guilty-jury-convicts-farquharson-of-murdering-three-boys-20100722-10mk7.html>. Read More