Structural determinants of psychological distress in Black mothers: a comparative analysis of maternal filicide

Black maternal filicide is a rare but devastating form of family violence that remains poorly understood within women's mental health research. Existing scholarship has often emphasized individual psychiatric pathology while paying less attention to the structural conditions that shape maternal psychological distress, access to care, and opportunities for prevention. This study advances a structural psychological analysis of Black maternal filicide, examining how structural adversity contributes to severe mental health crises.

Using a qualitative comparative case study design, we examined four highly publicized cases of Black maternal filicide in the United States between 2011 and 2022. Data were drawn from publicly available court records, media reporting, and psychological evaluations where available. Guided by structural determinants of health, structural violence, Black feminist thought, and reproductive justice frameworks, we conducted a cross-case thematic analysis examining maternal psychological symptoms, institutional responses, and post-event narratives.

Four interrelated themes emerged: severe psychological distress including depression, dissociation, and psychosis occurring without sustained access to mental health care; socioeconomic precarity, particularly housing instability, that intensified maternal stress; institutional surveillance without meaningful support across child welfare, housing, and mental health systems; and racialized media and legal responses that prioritized punishment over prevention. Across cases, maternal psychological crises unfolded within conditions of cumulative structural adversity and chronic trauma.

These findings suggest that maternal filicide in these cases cannot be understood solely as individual pathology but must also be examined within broader structural environments that shape maternal mental health. Addressing maternal psychological distress requires structural interventions that expand access to mental health care, reduce socioeconomic precarity, and shift institutional responses from surveillance to prevention.