A familicide is a type of murder or murder-suicide in which at least one spouse and one or more children are killed. In some cases all of the family members' lives are taken. ^[1] Mayor of Leipzig, Germany, committed suicide along with his wife and daughter on April 20, 1945. ... Suicide has been committed by people from all walks of life since the beginning of known history. ... // The following are lists of notable people who have definitely died intentionally by their own hand, regardless of the circumstances. ... Modern medical views on suicide consider suicide to be a mental health issue. ... Various human cultures may have views on suicide not directly or solely linked to religious views of suicide. ... This page concerns suicide. ... In ethics and other branches of philosophy suicide poses a difficult question, answered differently by philosophers from different times and traditions. ... There are a variety of religious views of suicide. ... For the 1987 film, see Right to Die (film) The term right to die refers to various issues around the death of an individual when that person could continue to live with the aid of life support, or in a diminished or enfeebled capacity. ... A suicide crisis, suicidal crisis, or potential suicide, is a situation in which a person is attempting to kill himself or is seriously contemplating or planning to do so. ... Modern medical views on suicide consider suicide to be a mental health issue rather than allowing that individuals can make a sane or reasoned choice to take their own life. ... Various suicide prevention strategies have been used: Promoting mental resilience through optimism and connectedness. ... As a suicide prevention initiative, this sign on the Golden Gate Bridge promotes a special telephone that connects to a crisis hotline. ... Suicide watch is an intensive monitoring process used to ensure that an individual does not commit suicide. ... A suicide method is any means by which someone purposely kills himself/herself. ... A copycat suicide is defined as a duplication or copycat of another suicide that the person attempting suicide knows about either from local knowledge or due to accounts or depictions of the original suicide on television and in other media. ... Cult suicide is that phenomenon by which some cults, have led to their membership committing suicide. ... Euthanasia (from Ancient Greek: ευθανασία, good death) is the practice of ending the life of a terminally ill person in a painless or minimally painful way, for the purpose of limiting suffering. ... Forced suicide is a method of execution where the victim is given the choice of committing suicide or facing an alternative they perceive as worse, such as suffering torture; having friends or family members imprisoned, tortured or killed; or losing honor, position or means. ... An Internet suicide is a suicide pact made between individuals who meet on the Internet. ... Mass suicide occurs when a number of people kill themselves together with one another or for the same reason and is usually connected to a real or perceived persecution. ... A murder suicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more other persons immediately before, or while killing himself. ... Ritual suicide is the act of suicide motivated by a religious, spiritual, or traditional ritual. ... A suicide attack is an attack on a military or civilian target, in which an attacker — either an individual or a group — intends to kill others and knows he or she will most likely die (see suicide). ... A suicide pact describes the suicides of two or more individuals in an agreed-upon plan. ... Suicide-by-cop is a suicide method in which someone deliberately acts in a threatening way towards a law enforcement officer, with the main goal of provoking a lethal response (e. ... Teenage suicide is the self-killing of a teenager. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Self-harm (SH) is deliberate injury to ones own body. ... Suicidal ideation is common medical term for the mere thoughts about and of plans of committing suicide, not the actual following through or act itself. ... A suicide note is a message left by someone who later attempts or commits suicide. ... A murder suicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more other persons immediately before, or while killing himself. ...

Of 909 cases of mass murder (defined as 4 victims within a 24 hour period) in the US from 1900 to 2000, more than half occurred within an immediate family. So that although the total number of familicide cases are relatively rare, they are the most common form of mass killings. However, statistical data is difficult to establish due to reporting discrepancies.^[2]

Familicide differs from mass murder in that the murder kills family members or loved ones rather than anonymous people. This has a different psychodynamic and psychiatric significance, but the distinction is not always made. ^[3]

A study of 30 cases in Ohio found that most of the killings were motivated by a parent's desire to stop their children's suffering.^[2]

In Australia, a study was done of seven cases of filicide followed by suicide in which marital separation followed by custody and access disputes were identified as an issue. Some common factors such as marital discord, unhappiness, domestic violence, sexual abuse, threats of harm to self or others were found in varying degrees. It was not clear what could be done in terms of prevention.^[4]

Related terms

• Filicide - A parent, or parents killing their own child, or children.
• Infanticide - The killing of one's child, or children up to 12 months of age.

Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent killing his or her own son or daughter. ... In sociology and biology, infanticide is the practice of intentionally causing the death of an infant of a given species, by members of the same species - often by the mother. ...

References

1. ^ Familicide : The Killing of Spouse and Children http://psych.mcmaster.ca/dalywilson/FamilicideSpouseChildren.pdf
2. ^ ^{a b} Berton, Justin. Familicide: Experts say family murder-suicides, though rare, are most common mass killing. San Francisco Examiner, June 20, 2007
3. ^ Malmquist, Carl P., MD. Homicide: A Psychiatric Perspective. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, 1996, ISBN 978-0880486903
4. ^ Johnson, Carolyn. Familicide and Custody Disputes - Dispelling The Myths. University of Western Australia, FamilicideAbstract_CarolynJohnson.pdf