Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Shackelford, Todd K.

Abstract

Stepparents commit filicide more often than do genetic parents. In 1994, using Canadian and British national databases, Daly and Wilson provided evidence that there are motivational differences that may affect the methods by which stepparents and genetic parents kill their children, and that stepfathers were more likely than genetic fathers to commit filicide by methods of beating and bludgeoning, revealing greater resentment and bitterness toward their charges. Genetic fathers were more likely to kill their children by asphyxiation or shooting, perhaps to ensure a less painful and quicker death. In 2004, Weekes-Shackelford and Shackelford, using a United States national database, replicated the findings of Daly and Wilson (1994) for stepfathers and genetic fathers. I sought to replicate the findings of Daly and Wilson (1994), and WeekesShackelford and Shackelford (2004) using a United States county-level database for Broward County, Florida that included case-level information for 89 filicides. Prediction 1, that the percentage of filicides committed by beating or bludgeoning would be greater for stepparents than for genetic parents, was supported. Prediction 2, that the percentage of filicides committed by beating or bludgeoning would be greater for stepfathers than for genetic fathers, was in the predicted direction but was not significant. Discussion addresses step parental psychology in view of the current research, the limitations of the current study, and future research directions for this topic.

Extent

76 p.

Comments

Charles E. Schmidt College of Science|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2006.|Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Identifier

FA00000803

Format

pdf

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