Why Kids Kill Parents: Child Abuse and Adolescent Homicide

A tragic portrait of adolescents who kill their parents is revealed in this volume: these young people almost always kill out of desperation as they are almost always victims of severe child abuse, neglect and dysfunctional parenting.

Drawing upon her experience as a clinician, expert witness and scholar, the author asserts that a combination of interconnected problems creates the conditions for parricide, including: severe sexual, physical and//or verbal abuse of the child; escalating violence in the family; and increasing vulnerability of the child to stressors in the home.

This sensitive volume includes an examination of interventions that are effective in treating such children. Heide concludes that ado