[Infanticide. Social and forensic aspects]

Infanticides are not specifically classified in German criminal records. Thus, the number of infanticides varies depending on different sources of information. Reports from expert witnesses (n=48, 1980-2007) from the German regions around Munich and Rostock were analyzed retrospectively in order to identify sociodemographic, clinical and forensic characteristics of child murders. In 87.5% of the cases the victims were the natural children of which 25 were younger than 1 year old. Female offenders outnumbered male offenders by 3:1 and on average females were 8 years younger than males (26.5 years for females and 34.2 years for males). The motives included unwanted pregnancy/child, altruistic deeds, acute psychoses, child abuse (sexual abuse, neglect or negligence), drug or alcohol abuse, sadistic punishment of the child and revenge on partners. In 27 cases a restricted or exemption from criminal responsibility was acknowledged. About one third of the offenders consulted a physician before the crime. For an improvement in primary prevention, support networks should be integrated and sensitized to the problem.