Paula Fernandez Arias

Responding to the needs of children of parents arrested in Victoria, Australia. The role of the adult criminal justice system

The prison population in most jurisdictions is escalating. As many prisoners are also parents, more children will inevitably be affected by the experience of having a parent incarcerated. Police and the lower courts are the gatekeepers of the criminal justice system and make urgent and vital decisions about arrest, remand and sentencing which have critical consequences for the children of those arrested, remanded and sentenced. To better understand how these children are responded to by this adult system, this paper draws on data collected from a purposive sample (N = 16) of Victorian magistrates, legal representatives and police, as part of a broader ARC funded study. Findings indicate that the consideration of these children by police and magistrates is largely ad hoc and depends on good will and the exercise of discretion. The balancing of justice issues and the interests of children is also complex and currently under-researched and under-informed. The authors argue that until the agencies dealing with adults incorporate child-focused practices, children, who have a primary carer in prison, will continue to be disadvantaged by a system which considers them only as collateral damage in the exercise of justice.

Filicide in Australia

Drawing on the most recent research on filicide in Australia and internationally, this chapter highlights a number of risk factors evident in Australian research including the vulnerability of very young children, the mental illness of the perpetrator, prior domestic violence inflicted by the male perpetrator or suffered by the female perpetrator, parental separation, prior child abuse, substance abuse, the criminal history of the perpetrator, the presence of a step-father and the perpetrator’s use of or failure to engage with services. The chapter argues that the constellation of factors varies according to perpetrator group and that professionals carrying out risk assessments need to take this into consideration.

The Incidence of Filicide in Chile: A Study of the Years 2010–2012

This chapter describes and analyses the statistical incidence of filicide in Chile, comparing the frequency of cases between the years 2010 and 2012 inclusive. The chapter illustrates various descriptive variables associated with the facts and qualitatively explores the circumstances of the events that culminated in the death of children by their parents. The findings suggest that socioeconomic and geographical factors play a part in the kind of filicide perpetrated. Moreover, young children were more at risk of filicide than older children. A surprising finding relates to a high concentration of filicides in the southern rural region of Chile, given the lower population concentration in this area.

A New Paradigm on Parents Who Kill: ‘The Mental Health Syndrome Paradigm’

This chapter departs from the traditional separation in diagnoses and service provision to propose an integrated Child Protection–Psychiatric interface response. In a departure from the common emphasis on child abuse-related deaths, the chapter argues that this was the wrong focus to measure improvements and develop intervention strategies from. The chapter concludes that given the growing evidence of the presence of mental health issues across perpetrator categories, there should be much more attention placed on the role of the mental health of perpetrators and its long-term impact on children.