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Jung, Lee, Kim, Taq, Oh, and Myoung: Analysis of Parricide and Filicide in Korea
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Korean J Leg Med 2014;38(2):66-72.

Published online: 17 January 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2014.38.2.66

Analysis of Parricide and Filicide in Korea

Sung-Kook Jung1, Jae-Ran Lee1, Jin-Young Kim1, Gi-Joo Taq1, Ik-Joon Oh1, Eui-Cheol Myoung2

1Scientific Investigation Division, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Seoul, Korea

2Scientific Investigation Division, Gangwon Provincial Police Agency, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon, Korea

본 연구에 자료를 협조해주신 서울지방경 찰청 배용주 과장님께 감사드리며, 전국 경찰서 과학수사요원들께도 감사드립니 다. 책임저자 : 정성국 (110-798) 서울시 종로구 사직로 8길 31 서울지방경찰청 형사과 과학수사계 전화 : +82-10-3930-7780 FAX : +82-2-700-0112 E-mail : jsk7780@hanmail.net

Received 14 April 2014       Revised 15 May 2014       Accepted 15 May 2014

Copyright © 2014 The Korean Society for Legal Medicine

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Parricide, the crime of murdering a parent, accounts for about 5% of all homicides. Filicide is the crime of murdering one’ s own child. This study aimed to review demographic features and criminal characteristics of individuals who committed parricide and filicide in Republic of Korea (ROK). This study is based on data from the Korea Police Crime Analysis System, from 2006~2013. We assessed the diverse characteristics of both victims and perpetrators. Over the selected period, 381 parents were killed by their children and 230 children were killed by parents in the ROK. Parricides caused by schizophrenic murders accounted for 39.6% of all cases. Moreover, approximately 44.4% of the perpetrators attempted suicide following the maternal filicide. In our findings, psychiatric illness was a very important predictor in parricide, and these further suggest that young mothers with severe mental illness require careful monitoring by mental health support service.

Keywords: Key Words, Parricide, Matricide, Patricide, Schizophrenia, Filicide

REFERENCES

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Table 1.
Descriptive Statistic in Parricide
Local Occurrence Occurrence time∗
Year Month
  No (%)   No (%)   No (%)   No (%)
Gangwon 17 (4.46) 2006 35 (9.19)0 1 24 (6.30) 23:00~<04:00 92 (24.15%)
Gyeonggi 83 (21.78) 2007 56 (14.70) 2 34 (8.92) 04:00~<18:00 179 (46.98%)
Gyeongsangnam 18 (4.72) 2008 42 (11.02) 3 38 (9.97) 18:00~<23:00 106 (27.82%)
Geyongsangbuk 18 (4.72) 2009 60 (15.75) 4 41 (10.76) Homicide methods No (%)
Gwangju 8 (2.10) 2010 58 (15.22) 5 28 (7.35) Stab wound 178 (46.72)
Deagu 7 (1.84) 2011 59 (15.49) 6 31 (8.14) Blunt injury 71 (18.64)
Daejeon 12 (3.15) 2012 54 (14.17) 7 40 (10.5) Assault 50 (13.12)
Busan 27 (7.09) 2013 17 (4.46)0 8 34 (8.92) Manual strangulation 31 (8.14)
Seoul 68 (17.85)     9 21 (5.51) Strangulation 12 (3.15)
Ulsan 7 (1.84)     10 43 (11.29) Fire 11 (2.89)
Incheon 18 (4.72)     11 29 (7.61) Drug 8 (2.1)
Jeollanam 25 (6.56)     12 18 (4.72) Throw 7 (1.84)
Jeollabuk 19 (4.99)
Poison 3 (0.79)
Jeju 10 (2.62)   Sex
 Assailants
 Victims
 Asphyxia 3 (0.79)
Chungcheongnam 19 (4.99)   Male 3 332 (87.14) 1 175 (45.93) Contract 2 (0.52)
Chungcheongbuk
 25 (6.56)
Female 0
 049 (12.86) 2
 206 (54.07)
 etc
 5 (1.31)
Total
 381
381
 381
381
Damage
         Motivation
No (%)
No (%)
Head 113 (29.66)       Family trouble 188 (49.34)
Neck 111 (29.13)       Mental illness 130 (34.12)
Chest 092 (24.15)       Economic trouble 058 (15.22)
Abdomen 30 (7.87)       Disease 01 (0.26)
Body 12 (3.15)       Unknown
 04 (1.05)
Organ 08 (2.10)       Total
 381
Mouth & nose 07 (1.84)
Artery 01 (0.26)       Assailant’ s suicide
 Mental illness
Etc
 07 (1.84)
     Yes 023 (6.04) 151 (39.63)
Total
 381
     No
 358 (93.96)
 230 (60.37)
        Total 381 381

∗ 4 missing data

Table 2.
Frequencies for Relationship between Assailant and Victim
Assailant/victim No (%)
Son→Father 154 (40.42)
Son→Mother 149 (39.11)
Daughter→Father 9 (2.36)
Daughter→Mother 26 (6.82)
Son-in-law→Mother-in-law 4 (1.05)
Son-in-law→Father-in-law 6 (1.57)
Daughter-in-law→Father-in-law 1 (0.26)
Daughter-in-law→Mother-in-law 9 (2.36)
Grandson→Grandfather 6 (1.57)
Grandson→Grandmother 13 (3.41)
Granddaughter→Grandfather 1 (0.26)
Granddaughter→Grandmother 3 (0.79)
Total 381
Table 3.
Frequencies for Gender and Age Group of Victim by Assailant’ s Gender
  Father Mother Total  
  No (%)   No (%)   No (%) P-value
Son 154 (50.83) 149 (49.17) 303 (89.64)0 0.0049
Daughter 009 (25.71) 026 (74.29) 035 (10.36)0  
Total 163 (48.22) 175 (51.78) 338 (100.00)  
  Spouse’ s father Spouse’ s mother Total
  No (%) No (%) No (%)
Male 4 (40.00) 6 (60.00) 10 (50.00)
Female 1 (10.00) 9 (90.00) 10 (50.00)
Total 5 (25.00) 15 (75.00) 20 (100.00)
Age 30~39 (%) 40~49 (%) 50~59 (%) 60~69 (%) 70~ (%) Total (%)
Son 1 (0.33) 30 (9.90)0 72 (23.76) 091 (30.03) 109 (35.97) 303 (89.64)0
Daughter 1 (2.86) 05 (14.29) 07 (20.00) 009 (25.71) 013 (37.14) 035 (10.36)0
Total 2 (0.59) 35 (10.36) 79 (23.37) 100 (29.59) 122 (36.09) 338 (100.00)
Table 4.
Frequencies for Victims by Age Group of Assailant
Age Father Mother Total
  No (%) No (%) No (%)
10~19 11 (55.00) 9 (45.00) 20 (5.92)
20~29 37 (41.57) 52 (58.43) 89 (26.33)
30~39 54 (49.09) 56 (50.91) 110 (32.54)
40~49 47 (55.95) 37 (44.05) 84 (24.85)
50~59 21 (75.00) 7 (25.00) 28 (8.28)
60~ 5 (71.43) 2 (28.57) 7 (2.07)
Total 175 (51.78) 163 (48.2) 338 (100.00)
Table 5.
Descriptive Statistic in Filicide
Location     Occurrence   Occurrence time
      Year Month    
  No (%)   No (%)   No (%)   No (%)
Gangwon 05 (2.17) 2006 26 (11.30) 1 027 (11.74) 23:00-<04:00 035 (15.22)
Gyeonggi 042 (18.26) 2007 32 (13.91) 2 029 (12.61) 04:00-<18:00 139 (60.43)
Gyeongsangnam 17 (7.39) 2008 26 (11.30) 3 023 (10.00) 18:00-<23:00 056 (24.35)
Geyongsangbuk 12 (5.22) 2009 30 (13.04) 4 18 (7.83)
Gwangju 10 (4.35) 2010 34 (14.78) 5 027 (11.74) Damage No (%)
Deagu 13 (5.65) 2011 34 (14.78) 6 15 (6.52) Neck 113 (49.13)
Daejeon 04 (1.74) 2012 39 (16.96) 7 16 (6.96) Mouth&nose 036 (15.65)
Busan 030 (13.04) 2013 9 (3.91) 8 18 (7.83) Head 032 (13.91)
Seoul 028 (12.17)     9 05 (2.17) Chest 19 (8.26)
Ulsan 08 (3.48)     10 15 (6.52) Abdomen 16 (6.96)
Incheon 014 (6.09)     11 023 (10.00) Organ 05 (2.17)
Jeollanam 016 (6.96)     12 14 (6.09) Artery 02 (0.87)
Jeollabuk 007 (3.04)         Etc 07 (3.04)
Jeju 003 (1.30)   Sex Assailants Victims    
Chungcheongnam 015 (6.52)   Male 118 (51.3) 117 (50.87)    
Chungcheongbuk 006 (2.61)   Female 112 (48.7) 113 (49.13)    
Total 230     230 230   230
Homicide methods         Motivation
    No (%)         No (%)
Manual strangulation n 63 (27.39)     Family trouble   102 (44.35)
Stab wound 44 (19.13)     Economic trouble   062 (26.96)
Asphyxia 33 (14.35)     Mental illness   055 (23.91)
Strangulation 29 (12.61)     Unknown   11 (4.78)
Blunt injury 25 (10.87)     Total   230
Assault 14 (6.09)            
Drug 6 (2.61)     Assailant’ s Suicide   No (%)
Poison 5 (2.17)     Yes   102 (44.35)
Throw 4 (1.74)     No   128 (55.65)
Fire 3 (1.3)            
Drown 2 (0.87)     Mental Illness   No (%)
Abandonment 1 (0.43)     Yes   66 (28.7)
etc 1 (0.43)     No   164 (71.3)0
Total 230     Total   230
Table 6.
Frequencies for Relationship between Victim and Assailant
Assailant/Victim No (%)
Father→Son 68 (29.57)
Father→Daughter 47 (20.43)
Mother→Son 47 (20.43)
Mother→Daughter 60 (26.09)
Stepfather→Daughter 2 (0.87)
Stepmother→Son 1 (0.43)
Stepmother→Daughter 2 (0.87)
Mother-in-law→Daughter-in-law 1 (0.43)
Father-in-law →Daughter-in-law 1 (0.43)
Grandmother→Grandfather 1 (0.43)
Total 230
Table 7.
Frequencies for Gender and Age Group of Victim by Assailant’ s Gender
    Son Daughter Total    
    No (%) No (%) No (%)   P-value
Father   068 (59.13) 047 (40.87) 115 (51.80)0   0.0235
Mother   047 (43.93) 060 (56.07) 107 (48.20)0    
Total   115 (51.80) 107 (48.20) 222 (100.00)    
    Son-in-law Daughter-in-law Total    
    No (%) No (%) No (%)    
Fathers-in-la w 0 (0.00) 1 (100.00) 1 (50.00)0    
Mother-in-la aw 0 (0.00) 1 (100.00) 1 (50.00)0    
Total   0 (0.00) 2 (100.00) 2 (100.00)    
Age 0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 Total
Father 043 (40.57) 39 (36.79) 10 (9.43) 6 (5.66) 7 (6.60) 1 (0.94) 106 (50.96)0
Mother 080 (78.43) 19 (18.63) 02 (1.96) 0 (0.00) 1 (0.98) 0 (0.00) 102 (49.04)0
Total 123 (59.13) 58 (27.88) 12 (5.77) 6 (2.88) 8 (3.85) 1 (0.48) 208 (100.00)
Table 8.
Frequencies for Victim by Age Group of Assailants
  Son Daughter Total
Age No (%) No (%) No (%)
10~19 00 (0.00) 0001 (100.00) 01 (0.45)0
20~29 006 (35.29) 011 (64.71) 17 (7.66)0
30~39 044 (46.32) 051 (53.68) 95 (42.79)
40~49 040 (51.28) 038 (48.72) 78 (35.14)
50~59 010 (71.43) 004 (28.57) 14 (6.31)0
60~69 011 (91.67) 01 (8.33) 12 (5.41)0
70~ 004 (80.00) 001 (20.00) 05 (2.25)0
Total 115 (51.80) 107 (48.20) 222 (100.00)
Table 9.
Frequencies for Suicide by Assailant’ s Gender
  Suicide No suicide Total  
  No (%) No (%) No (%) P-value
Father 055 (47.83) 060 (52.17) 115 (51.80) 0.4697
Mother 046 (42.99) 061 (57.01) 107 (48.20)  
Total 101 (45.50) 121 (54.50) 0222 (100.00)  
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