Parricide


Parricide is the deliberate killing of one's own parent. It is an umbrella term that can be used to refer to acts of matricide, the deliberate killing of one's own mother, and patricide, the deliberate killing of one's own father.
Societies consider parricide a serious crime and parricide offenders are subject to criminal prosecution under the homicide laws which are established in places in which parricides occur. In most countries, an adult who is convicted of parricide faces a long-term prison sentence, a permanent prison sentence, or even a death sentence. Youthful parricide offenders who are younger than the age of majority may be prosecuted under less stringent laws which are designed to take their special needs and development into account, but these laws are usually waived and as a result, most youthful parricide offenders are transferred into the Adult Judicial System.
Parricide offenders are typically divided into two categories;
  1. youthful parricide offenders and
  2. adult parricide offenders because the motivations and situations surrounding parricide events change as a child matures.

    Prevalence

As per the Parricide Prevention Institute, approximately 2–3% of all U.S. murders were parricides each year since 2010. The more than 300 parricides occurring in just the U.S. each year means there are 6 or more parricide events, on average, each week. This estimate does not include the murders of grandparents or stepparents by a child – only the murders of their natal or legally adoptive parents.

Youthful motives

Youthful parricide is motivated by a variety of factors. Current research conducted by the Parricide Prevention Institute indicates the top five motives causing a child to commit parricide are:
In the sixth-century AD collection of earlier juristical sayings, the Digest, a precise enumeration of the victims' possible relations to the parricide is given by the 3rd century AD lawyer Modestinus: