When Mothers Kill: Interviews from Prison - Hardcover

Meyer, Cheryl L.; Oberman, Michelle

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0814757022 ISBN 13: 9780814757024

Publisher: NYU Press, 2008

Synopsis

Winner of the 2008 Outstanding Book Award by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences
Michelle Oberman and Cheryl L. Meyer don’t write for news magazines or prime-time investigative television shows, but the stories they tell hold the same fascination. When Mothers Kill is compelling. In a clear, direct fashion the authors recount what they have learned from interviewing women imprisoned for killing their children. Readers will be shocked and outraged—as much by the violence the women have endured in their own lives as by the violence they engaged in—but they will also be informed and even enlightened.
Oberman and Meyer are leading authorities on their subject. Their 2001 book, Mothers Who Kill Their Children, drew from hundreds of newspaper articles as well as from medical and social science journals to propose a comprehensive typology of maternal filicide. In that same year, driven by a desire to test their typology—and to better understand child-killing women not just as types but as individuals—Oberman and Meyer began interviewing women who had been incarcerated for the crime. After conducting lengthy, face-to-face interviews with forty prison inmates, they returned and selected eight women to speak with at even greater length. This new book begins with these stories, recounted in the matter-of-fact words of the inmates themselves.
There are collective themes that emerge from these individual accounts, including histories of relentless interpersonal violence, troubled relationships with parents (particularly with mothers), twisted notions of romantic love, and deep conflicts about motherhood. These themes structure the books overall narrative, which also includes an insightful examination of the social and institutional systems that have failed these women. Neither the mothers nor the authors offer these stories as excuses for these crimes.

About this title

About the Authors

Cheryl L. Meyer is Professor of Psychology at Wright State University School of Professional Psychology in Dayton, Ohio. She is also the author of The Wandering Uterus (NYU Press).

Michelle Oberman is Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law.

Reviews

Oberman and Meyer first sought to understand one of the most terrifying crimes in their 2001 Mothers Who Kill Their Children, creating a "comprehensive typology" of the perpetrator based on careful case studies. Taking the next step, the authors and professors interview 40 female inmates incarcerated for the crime to test their typology. What they find, disturbingly, is "a heavy truth: these mothers were not that different from any other mothers we know." The common themes that emerge in each of these women's stories include domestic violence, troubled relationships with parents, twisted notions of romantic love and deep conflicts about motherhood. Even more pervasive is how many of these women were failed by the social and institutional systems set up to detect and defuse problems before they become tragedies; their interaction with the health care system, the foster care system, public assistance and child protective agencies all offer insights into how these women literally slipped through the cracks. Unflinching and not for the feint, this important title should provide great insight for anyone whose job affects the welfare of mothers.
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Edition details

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0814757022
• ISBN 13: 9780814757024
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208