Book Description

Infanticide is the crime of killing an infant. It is one of the commonest, yet least understood of all human crimes. Estimates of its frequency, based upon historical studies and modern data, indicate that up to 10-15% of all children ever born have been killed by their parents: an astounding seven billion victims! Most people find it difficult to accept that anyone, except the most severely mentally disturbed felon, would kill their own child. The author provides the first exhaustive survey of infanticide, drawing on historical data from around the world. He then uses this survey as a basis for investigating why infanticide has been present in every form of human society throughout history. Although academic articles document isolated aspects of this problem, a single, unified analysis of infanticide has not been completed until now. Both comprehensive and compelling, this important study will intrigue students of human psychology, social welfare, and child abuse, and will promote further research on this alarmingly overlooked atrocity. Dr. Larry S. Milner, an expert in the field of infanticide, brings to light reasons why parents have so often resorted to murdering their offspring. A board-certified physician in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology as well as an attorney, Dr. Milner wrote this book to inform the public about the historical and current practice of infanticide in order to promote prevention.