When Caregivers Kill: Understanding Child Murder by Parents and Other Guardians - Hardcover

It's an undeniably grisly topic, but authors Betty Alt and Sandra Wells handle it respectfully in their new book, "When Caregivers Kill: Understanding Child Murder by Parents and Other Guardians."...Filled with interesting information. * The Sunday Chieftain and Star-Journal, May 23, 2010 * Alt and Wells make a solid contribution to the literature in this disturbing area, offering a fine balance between case details, theory, treatment, and the law. They competently capture the challenges and tensions involved in the issue of fatal caretakers, keeping compassion in perspective with genuine criminal behavior. Anyone who teaches on this subject or who deals with these offenders clinically or in court should have this book in their collection. It's a fine reference as well as a readable overview of what the most prominent experts and researchers have discovered. -- Katherine Ramsland, PhD, professor of forensic psychology; author of The Mind of a Murderer and Confession of a Serial Killer

Each year in the U.S. hundreds of children under the age of ten are killed by parents, relatives, or other caregivers. In recent years, families have become less dependent on kinship and neighborhood relationships, so they may become nearly invisible to those who might otherwise be involved in their activities. Because of this isolation, danger to children often does not become visible to the public until the child is injured or, worse, dead. This book offers an overview of the various caregivers involved in child homicide. It covers murders committed by mothers, fathers, babysitters, and others and examines the common circumstances that lead to such violence. Using cases throughout, the authors reveal the extent and nature of child homicide in chilling detail. Readers will come away from the book with a greater understanding of the problem_the triggers that lead to child homicide, the motives and means, what killers have in common, and how to prevent and address child homicide.