Chris Watts - Familicide Type: Immortality, Control, Suicide, or Revenge?

This video answers the question: Can I compare the Chris Watts murder case to what we know about familicide I think what happens a lot of times when this case is analyzed, is that it's analyzed without context. We actually have a lot of information available in the literature about familicide and yet you'll see kind of a narrowing in on this case without considering that larger context. Sometimes in research and just in trying to gain knowledge in general we have to step back from something to get a clear view of it.

The types of familicide:

Immortality
- murders committed in an attempt to immortalize the family
- perpetrator “protects” the family, believing that death is better than poverty.

need for control
- perpetrator commits the final act of control by killing the entire family
- perpetrator views the family as a singular unit and does not differentiate between individuals,

Suicide
- perpetrator kills the spouse and children because he believes they are unable to go on
without their head of household
- perpetrator is also driven by a desire to protect the family from the shame of having a parent commit suicide

Revenge
- tied to sexual jealousy
- perpetrator believes the spouse or ex-spouse has been unfaithful
- children are seen equally responsible for any betrayal


Liem, M., & Koenraadt, F. (2008). Familicide: a comparison with spousal and child homicide by mentally disordered perpetrators. Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health, 18(5), 306–318.

Liem, M., Levin, J., Holland, C., & Fox, J. (2013). The Nature and Prevalence of Familicide in the United States, 2000-2009. Journal of Family Violence, 28(4), 351–358

Mailloux, S. (2014). Fatal Families: Why Children are Killed in Familicide Occurrences. Journal of Family Violence, 29(8), 921–926

Sachmann, M., & Harris Johnson, C. M. (2014). The Relevance of Long-Term Antecedents in Assessing the Risk of Familicide-Suicide Following Separation. Child Abuse Review, 23(2), 130–141.

Видео Chris Watts - Familicide Type: Immortality, Control, Suicide, or Revenge? канала Dr. Todd Grande