Neonaticide in the city of Rio de Janeiro: Forensic and psycholegal perspectives

This is a retrospective study of mothers charged with killing their childre n within 24 h of birth in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Characteristi cs of the mothers and the victims, the circumstances surrounding the offens e, the mothers' motivation and state of mind at the time of the offense, th e legal process, and follow-up data were investigated. We analyzed our coho rt as two subgroups: 26 offenses that occurred between 1900 and 1939 and we re dealt with under the Brazilian Penal Code of 1890, and 27 offenses that were committed between 1940 and 1995 and were dealt with under the Penal Co de of 1940. The mothers were young (mean 22.5 +/- 5.3 years), unmarried (88 .2%), non-Caucasian (73.8%), and had limited formal education. They usually kept the pregnancy a secret (94.1%) and gave birth in a classified way (10 0%). Most victims were killed through wounding violence (77.4%). Offenders identified between the years of 1940-1995 had increased rates of literacy ( chi(2) = 6.80, d.f. = 1, p = .009), a higher incidence of reported psychiat ric symptoms (chi(2) = 11.82, d.f. = 1, p < .001), increased referral for p sychiatric assessment (chi(2) = 3.85, d.f. = 1, p = .05), and greater frequ ency of cases where statute of limitations was expired (chi(2) = 3.88, d.f. = 1, p = .049).