Mothers Who Kill Their Children: Understanding the Acts of Moms from Susan Smith to the Prom Mom

by Michelle Rone, Cheryl Meyer, Michelle Oberman, et al.

Book Overview

An inside look into patterns and potential prevention plans for one of the most hotly sensationalized crimes

A special kind of horror is reserved for mothers who kill their children. Cases such as those of Susan Smith, who drowned her two young sons by driving her car into a lake, and Melissa Drexler, who disposed of her newborn baby in a restroom at her prom, become media sensations. Unfortunately, in addition to these high-profile...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814756441
• ISBN13: 9780814756447
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating book...

This book traces a tradition of which most Americans are unaware: mothers who kill an infant post partum have generally been treated leniently (prior to the last ten years or so) by the criminal justice system. Indeed, in England there is a statute so providing. Oberman and Meyer explore the tradition and its probable policy basis and whether it should be retained.