Publication

Child homicide: Media hype, but no indications for copycat effect

Child homicide is a phenomenon that not infrequently leads to shock and societal unrest. However, the precise nature and scope of child homicide in the Netherlands remains unknown.

Author

Dr. Marieke Liem

Date

25 July 2016

This article, by Marieke Liem and Stephanie Haarhuis attempts to fill the gap in our current knowledge by reporting descriptive research on child homicide in the Netherlands in the period 2009-2014. Further, this article aims to assess if media attention regarding child homicide brings about a so-called copycat-effect. By means of descriptive statistics, case, victim and perpetrator characteristics of 74 cases of filicide are assessed.