Bad parents? evaluating judgements of infant homicides

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for male and female questionnaire scores.

	Total M (SD)	Males M (SD)	Females M (SD)	p	d
Age (years)	37.17 (12.83)	36.94 (13.27)	37.40 (12.41)	.779	0.04
TriPM	53.35 (19.21)	60.72 (20.63)	45.80 (14.16)	<.001	0.84
Filicide judgements	64.80 (8.62)	64.49 (8.77)	65.13 (8.50)	.568	0.07
STIG-9	14.02 (6.07)	14.23 (5.57)	13.80 (6.56)	.586	0.07
SWEMWBS	24.97 (4.69)	24.82 (4.42)	25.11 (4.95)	.625	0.06
GRB	46.61 (7.83)	45.21 (7.53)	48.05 (7.90)	.004	0.37

Note: TriPM = triarchic psychopathy measure; STIG-9 = Stigma-9 questionnaire; SWEMWBS = Short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale; GRB = Gender Role Beliefs.

Table 2. Pearson correlations between variables for the whole sample, as well as within males and females, specifically.

	Whole sample						Male perpetrators (n = 123); female perpetrators (n = 118)
	1	2	3	4	5	6	1	2	3	4	5	6
[1] TriPM	—	–.012	−.389**	.204**	−.027	−.003	—	.160	−.417**	.224*	.075	−.016
[2] Judgements		—	−.037	−.012	−.069	.001	−.195*	—	−.006	−.045	.047	−.013
[3] Participant sex			—	−.035	.031	.182**	−.372**	.066	—	−.017	−.116	.281**
[4] STIG-9				—	−.258***	−.123	.186*	.015	−.054	—	−.324**	−.023
[5] SWEMWBS					—	−.048	−.139	.043	.168	−.194*	—	−.035
[6] GRB						—	.018	.032	.085	.010	.562	—

Note: TriPM = triarchic psychopathy measure; STIG-9 = Stigma-9 questionnaire; SWEMWBS = Short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale; GRB = Gender Role Beliefs. Offender sex = male = 1, female = 2. Male correlations above the diagonal, female correlations below the diagonal.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Figure 1. Moderation analysis output of the effects of psychopathy on judgements of infant homicide offences as a function of offender sex.

Table 3. Moderation coefficients for male responders.

	B (SE)	t	p	95% CI (B)
TriPM	−0.04 (0.04)	−0.97	.33	[−0.11, 0.04]
Offender sex	−5.61 (1.59)	−3.51	<.001	[−8.77, −2.45]
TriPM × Offender Sex	−0.17 (0.08)	−2.26	.03	[−0.32, −0.02]
Age^a	0.03 (0.07)	0.46	.64	[−0.10, 0.16]
STIG-9^a	0.05 (0.14)	0.35	.73	[−0.24, 0.34]
SWEMWBS^a	−0.04 (0.18)	−0.24	.81	[−0.40, 0.32]
GRB^a	0.05 (0.12)	0.45	.65	[−0.18, 0.28]

Note: TriPM = triarchic psychopathy measure; STIG-9 = Stigma-9 questionnaire; SWEMWBS = Short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale; GRB = Gender Role Beliefs; CI = confidence interval.

^aCovariates.

Table 4. Moderation coefficients for female responders.

	B (SE)	t	p	95% CI (B)
TriPM	0.05 (0.06)	0.87	.38	[−0.07, 0.17]
Offender sex	−3.62 (1.55)	−2.34	.02	[−6.68, −0.56]
TriPM × Offender Sex	−0.18 (0.11)	−1.58	.12	[−0.40, 0.04]
Age^a	−0.10 (0.07)	−1.53	.13	[−0.24, 0.03]
STIG-9^a	−0.07 (0.13)	−0.55	.58	[−0.33, 0.19]
SWEMWBS^a	0.15 (0.17)	0.88	.38	[−0.18, 0.48]
GRB^a	−0.07 (0.11)	−0.66	.51	[−0.29, 0.14]

Note: TriPM = triarchic psychopathy measure; STIG-9 = Stigma-9 questionnaire; SWEMWBS = Short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale; GRB = Gender Role Beliefs; CI = confidence interval.

^aCovariates.

Figure 2. Descendant hierarchical classification (DHC) dendrogram: male perpetrator. Note. Class 1: Sentence and punishment; Class 2: Emotional control; Class 3: Intention and blame; Class 4: Social punishment; Class 5: Mother’s role. ECUs = elementary context units.

Table 5. Representative extracts of each class.

Class 1 Sentence and punishment	‘I think that the law needs to be carried through, but I do not think that this merits as long as 10 years prison sentence when he must be suffering unbearably already.’ ‘There can be no excuses for killing a child. Even if it turns out he had undiagnosed mental issues, he still needs to serve time for the crime and get help at the same time.’
Class 2 Emotional control	‘Sleep deprivation and feeling out of control is quite common in first time parents with new-borns. It’s amazing how frustrating you can get to the point of wanting to walk out and leave the baby. Sleep deprivation is a form of torture.’ ‘Mark should have been able to control his emotions and be aware of the dangers of shaking a baby.’
Class 3 Intention and blame	‘Mark has obviously lost control and didn’t intend to kill the child. I don’t believe he was in control at the moment he shook the child. Killing a child is definitely an offence, even if unintentional.’ ‘A message needs to be sent to parents and carers of children that our society will not excuse harming children no matter how tired or frustrated you might be you will be punished.’
Class 4 Social punishment	‘He broke the law and should pay for what he’s done. I think people would struggle to trust him as his mental state clearly isn’t great. What he did was a horrible thing and people wouldn’t be very forgiving.’ ‘I believe that Mark was responsible for his actions. If he was struggling he should have sought advice and help before shaking the baby. I believe that his relationship with a lot of people as they will lose their trust in him.’
Class 5 Mother’s role	‘Sarah was called to work, she had no input in the way Mark behaved. Mark, while tired and frustrated, should be aware of the fragility of a new-born.’ ‘I think Mark had the choice to control his anger and frustration in an alternative way rather than lashing out at the baby. Sarah could have refused to go to work, especially as she should have been on maternity and she has put work before her family knowing how tired they were.’

Figure 3. Descendant hierarchical classification (DHC) dendrogram: female perpetrator. Note. Class 1: Impact; Class 2: Sentence and punishment; Class 3: Mental health; Class 4: Blame; Class 5: Social support. ECUs = elementary context units.

Table 6. Representative extracts of each class.

Class 1 Impact	‘Sarah’s family and friends will be traumatised by the loss in such circumstances and find it difficult to see her in the same way again.’ ‘It will affect the opinions of friends the most but close friends, family, and strangers a lot less as they know her better to judge her character, or not know her at all so it doesn’t matter.’
Class 2 Sentence and punishment	‘At the end of the day, she did at that moment break the law and commit a crime but hearing the scope of the situation and background information, I don’t find the punishment should be as harsh as 10 years in prison.’ ‘I don’t believe that Sarah intentionally killed her baby but she has committed one of the most serious offences and therefore has to be punished in accordance to the law.’
Class 3 Mental health	‘Postpartum depression is a serious mental health issue. It could have been avoided but I don’t feel like anyone was to blame. Having to live with that is going to mess with her head for years to come.’ ‘I think mental health and her response should be factored into the punishment.’
Class 4 Blame	‘Sarah was responsible but wasn’t in a good state of mind and definitely didn’t intend to harm the baby. However, it is not Mark’s fault and out of the two, Sarah is definitely to blame.’ ‘Mark was not there, they needed the money and he was working. Although he could have stayed at home to help with the baby but they needed the money.’
Class 5 Social support	‘Mark was not to blame for the accident. However, he could have tried to enlist some additional support for this wife knowing how tired thy both were.’ ‘I think Sarah was unstable and probably needed support. However, she is solely responsible for shaking the baby as the father also bears responsibility and if he saw Sarah was struggling, he could have noticed signs leading up to the tragic event.’

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study and supplementary analyses are openly available via the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/qw6mv/?view_only=82e77a6422cf470e961e660af126fddc