Mothers Who Kill Their Children: Understanding the Acts of Moms from Susan Smith to the "Prom Mom"

Rating:
Summary: Lacking
Review: I read the book in an attempt to gain understanding however the authors provided only excuses. As a woman, a mother, an antiviolence activist/advocate; I found this book lacking. This book lacked empathy and compassion for the most powerless victims-the children. I found it interesting that few if any of the children were mentioned by names, and instead were listed by their ages while their mothers were reported using their full names.

This book lacked objectivity. The cases summaries, if you can call them that, are actually far leaning slants towards devaluing the lives of children. The authors made the case that these women were so depressed and defeated during the moments that they were murdering children, yet not too depressed and defeated to try to cover up the evil acts in an attempt to escape the punishment.

This book lacked hope. We are presented with "case summaries" of women who had run into very trying and difficult obstacles and yet we are to consider accepting that they had no other choice but to kill their children. Shouldn't we continue to be disturbed by these actions? Is dying any better at the hands of your mother than if it were a stranger? Are you any less dead because it was your mother who killed you?

Listen, if you are writing a truly objective research paper or something like that then this book will serve you well in coming up with a counter argument to common sense.

Rating:
Summary: Need a reality check
Review: I work in the field of abused children. I felt this book did not hold the women accountable for their actions. The author's basically gave them a "free pass" in life by making excuses. It does not matter if you are rich, poor, abused....you took a life ( a very innocent life that could not protect him or herself ).
In addition, they did not go into enough detail with the stories they presented. Basically, they gave a few lines regarding a case, and that was it. I think it would have been better to have spent more time on a few cases including all of the history.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating book...
Review: This book traces a tradition of which most Americans are unaware: mothers who kill an infant post partum have generally been treated leniently (prior to the last ten years or so) by the criminal justice system. Indeed, in England there is a statute so providing. Oberman and Meyer explore the tradition and its probable policy basis and whether it should be retained.