Produced with Childrenlaw UK (formerly the British Juvenile and Family Courts Society) this is the definitive collection of contributions from experts about how and why children kill other people - including a special focus on the notorious Mary Bell and Bulger cases, including from leading international author Gita Sereny.

Why would two young boys abduct, torture and kill a toddler? What makes a teenage girl plot with her classmates to kill her own father? Society regards children as harmless - but for some the age of innocence is shortlived, messy and ultimately murderous.Mary Bell, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables are infamous for their crimes against other children, but many of the less familiar studies here are equally as shocking. Thirteen murderers - the youngest only ten - used fire, poison, bullets and strangulation on victims from infants to pensioners. In a comprehensive study of juvenile homicide, Carol Anne Davis offers new psychological insights and a hard-hitting look at the role of society in an area too shocking to ignore.

As parents, we used to feel secure in our children being safely watched over in our nation's schools. We drop them off in the morning, make sure they have their lunches and homework, kiss them good-bye, and happily go about our day- never even fathoming that we may never again see their smile, hear their giggle, feel their touch, tuck them in at night...But, tragically, the families of the five victims of the Jonesboro shooting now know that pain. But Jonesboro is not the only town affected by misdirected, misunderstood children. While the media pounced on this story, seizing the opportunity to mount their proverbial soapboxes to address the issues, few- if any- took the time to really research the facts. "Experts" were quick to give their hasty analyses, turning this calamity into a pop symbol of our social decline. During this upheaval, Arkansas govenor Mike Huckabee met with the grieving people of Jonesboro, the victim's families, the Arkansas law enforcement officials, and felt compelled to address this issue- not as just another authoritative voice, but as a concerned citizen with a strong desire to move forward with hope, confidence, and security.Governor Huckabee uses the pages of this book to explore this crisis looming over our country. As a former pastor and state official, Huckabee has first-hand experience with the demise of our nation. This experience qualifies him to examine the cultural demoralization and the current fascination with anti-heroes. Huckabee pulls everything together and proposes a key to recovery- the return to basic values: faith, family, work, and community.

This title examines the role of political culture and penal populism in the response to the emotive subject of child-on-child homicide. Green explores the reasons underlying the vastly differing responses of the English and Norwegian criminal justice systems to the cases of James Bulger and Silje Redergard respectively. Whereas James Bulger's killers were subject to extreme press and public hostility, and held in secure detention for nine months before being tried in an adversarial court, and served eight years in custody, a Redergard's killers were shielded from public antagonism and carefully reintegrated into the local community. This book argues that English adversarial political culture creates far more incentives to politicize high-profile crimes than Norwegian consensus political culture. Drawing on a wealth of empirical research, Green suggests that the tendency for politicians to justify punitive responses to crime by invoking harsh political attitudes is based upon a flawed understanding of public opinion. In a compelling study, Green proposes a more deliberative response to crime is possible by making English culture less adversarial and by making informed public judgment more assessable.

An inside look into patterns and potential prevention plans for one of the most hotly sensationalized crimes A special kind of horror is reserved for mothers who kill their children. Cases such as those of Susan Smith, who drowned her two young sons by driving her car into a lake, and Melissa Drexler, who disposed of her newborn baby in a restroom at her prom, become media sensations. Unfortunately, in addition to these high-profile cases, hundreds of mothers kill their children in the United States each year. The question most often asked is, why? What would drive a mother to kill her own child? Those who work with such cases, whether in clinical psychology, social services, law enforcement or academia, often lack basic understandings about the types of circumstances and patterns which might lead to these tragic deaths, and the social constructions of motherhood which may affect women's actions. These mothers oftentimes defy the myths and media exploitation of them as evil, insane, or lacking moral principles, and they are not a homogenous group. In obvious ways, intervention strategies should differ for a teenager who denies her pregnancy and then kills her newborn and a mother who kills her two toddlers out of mental illness or to further a relationship. A typology is needed to help us to understand the different cases that commonly occur and the patterns they follow in order to make possible more effective prevention plans. Mothers Who Kill Their Children draws on extensive research to identify clear patterns among the cases of women who kill their children, shedding light on why some women commit these acts. The characteristics the authors establish will be helpful in creating more meaningful policies, more targeted intervention strategies, and more knowledgeable evaluations of these cases when they arise.

This edited collection addresses a substantial gap in the existing literature on filicide by presenting the latest research from empirical investigations around the world. Despite its low occurrence, little is known about the incidences, causes and circumstances of filicide nationally and globally, and this international volume address the challenges associated with explaining and understanding filicide. Additionally, the authors also outline the role of professionals in assessing risk, and the importance of support for, and advocacy of, families of victims in the aftermath of these tragic events. Exploring a truly diverse range of countries, from various English speaking countries, to Chile, and Japan, this book presents an authoritative look at research on filicide, and crucially, examines the programs currently being developed for both intervention and prevention. An important and well-researched collection, this book will be of particular interest for scholars of do mestic violence and filicide, as well as professionals such as social workers.

Exploring the ethical questions posed by, in, and about children’s literature, this collection examines the way texts intended for children raise questions of value, depict the moral development of their characters, and call into attention shared moral presuppositions. The essays in Part I look at various past attempts at conveying moral messages to children and interrogate their underlying assumptions. What visions of childhood were conveyed by explicit attempts to cultivate specific virtues in children? What unstated cultural assumptions were expressed by growing resistance to didacticism? How should we prepare children to respond to racism in their books and in their society? Part II takes up the ethical orientations of various classic and contemporary texts, including 'prosaic ethics' in the Hundred Acre Wood, moral discernment in Narnia, ethical recognition in the distant worlds traversed by L’Engle, and virtuous transgression in recent Anglo-American children’s literature and in the emerging children’s literature of 1960s Taiwan. Part III’s essays engage in ethical criticism of arguably problematic messages about our relationship to nonhuman animals, about war, and about prejudice. The final section considers how we respond to children’s literature with ethically focused essays exploring a range of ways in which child readers and adult authorities react to children’s literature. Even as children’s literature has evolved in opposition to its origins in didactic Sunday school tracts and moralizing fables, authors, parents, librarians, and scholars remain sensitive to the values conveyed to children through the texts they choose to share with them.

The Era of the Antichrist is not just a book. It is a prophecy that is being fulfilled everyday, corroborated in our daily news, magazines, newspapers, etc. This is not a strange coincidence, because we live now in the Era of the Antichrist. This is why The Era of the Antichrist is not a regular book, it is a living book that is happening around us visually and invisibly, it becomes alive in your life, it reveals to you the mysteries of the self and its link to the Antichrist, secrets and mysteries that have been hidden for thousands of years and whose understanding is paramount for our souls survival. In short, it makes you aware of the forces within and without yourself that influence your life. Saint John used in his book of the Apocalypsis precise symbols and arithmetic ciphers that were Understood only by early Christian Gnostics, both numbers and symbols have been approached superficially for lack of the experiential Knowledge of God. It is only this rare gift what makes of a man a Gnostic and gives him what Saint John called - Understanding. This is why he makes sure to specify: Let those who have Understanding, compute the number of the beast, for it is the name of a man. And his number is 666. Those who have only the logic, intellectual knowledge to decipher them, have believed Saint Johns numbers to be without more meaning than the symbolic. This is a capital error - no one is able to understand correctly anything written in the Sealed book of Saint John, one of the most mysterious manuscripts ever written without the secret numerological code, especially when we deal with the Antichrist. Without the code used to unveil the mysteries, its literally impossible to discover his true identity or to know why does he have so much power over human beings. Many have made superficial conclusions about the identity of the Antichrist, some of the most popular were based on the misinterpretation of a prophecy of Nostradamus, others have been overtly based on social preferences or fears, i.e. Hitler, Gorbachev, Saddam Hussein, any of the Popes, etc. Meanwhile, the true identity of the Antichrist remained unknown and well protected behind the wall built around him by all these wild theories about his identity. As I said before, the early Christian Gnostics used specific systems of numbers and symbols to protect from malice or distortion of truth the High Mysteries of Christianity and to communicate them to each other without endangering their purity, as only those possessing the secret code could disclose them. They were forced to do this, not only to protect the purity of the Christ Mystery, but also the knowledge they had of other mysteries who concerned the adversary forces, the ones whose role is to oppose the Christ on earth. One of these mysteries, maybe the most feared of all, is the mystery of the number 666, the number of the adversary of the Christ, the satanic beast who is supposed to reign on the earth as the false Messiah; his identity, is also the most misinterpreted identity of history. Well, that is not the case anymore, The Era of the Antichrist reveals his true identity. Oddly enough - because we must be very near to the time when he is going to reveal himself - his followers are willingly corroborating the information given in this book, by acknowledging that they have been working for this end for hundreds and thousands of years and by talking openly, for the first time in history about their preparation for his coming and the great benefits that the world is going to receive by having someone like him change things on earth, etc. Our Savior in the course of His instructions to the apostles about the coming of His adversary, gave them special signs to watch for that would signal the end of times, but no date. To that I adhere myself, because if He Who Is the Beginning and the End gave only the signs, and no specific time, is because of a perfect understanding of things. So, I follow His direction, observe the signs and put the action to communicate them to others. Like it or not, most of the signs have already been fulfilled this may be pleasant or unpleasant to hear, but in these times Truth, more than ever, is a life saver being handed to you, which may help you to survive. So I exhort those who have ears to hear and who want to be part of His Kingdom to inform themselves correctly about the true identity of the adversary of the Christ; because he will deceive many, even the elect if that were possible as Our Lord Jesus Himself said. The Era of the Antichrist uses the secret numerological code used by Valentinus a disciple of Saint John to unveil the identity of the dreaded beast of the Apocalypsis. The only correct computation and conclusions that I have knowledge of, were made by Rudolph Steiner, and G.R. Mead, and both had a different aspect than the one presented in The Era of the Antichrist because the time of the Antichrist was not due yet. But now, the time is ripe and the breaking of the seals of mystery of the Apocalypse is possible. It is now also possible to offer a book like this to the general public because there are technological mediums that allow us to communicate in ways that before were not possible. Book distribution, for instance, was before controlled by big publishing houses, which would probably have stopped most books containing a subject such as this if it was accurate and true - from reaching the public. The big difference between The Era of the Antichrist and other books in which there are diverse intellectual theories given about the mystery of the Antichrist is that The Era of the Antichrist does not theorize, or uses a modern system of numerology; it computes as Saint John directed us to do. It unveils the identity of the Antichrist, not by intellectual conclusions, but by disclosing its mystery with, if not the same numerical code that Saint John used, a code one of his disciples used, and which was in use in 96 AD, the time when Saint John wrote his document. The Era of the Antichrist is a book for our era, a book of spiritual survival. The correct Understanding of this matter is vital for the souls of every living being. As vital as to know what to do when a killer hurricane is coming. If you have a hurricane preparedness pamphlet and you follow its instructions chances are that you will be able to survive the hurricane. Please use it well.

The field of child sexual abuse has dramatically changed since Understanding Child Sexual Maltreatment was published in 1990. Considerable developments in child and offender research have emerged. But more significantly, a backlash against child abuse victims, Child Protective Services, and mental health professionals has impacted nearly every aspect of research, diagnosis, and intervention. Understanding and Assessing Child Sexual Maltreatment, Second Edition updates its comprehensive coverage of child sexual abuse definitions and indicators, interview and questioning techniques, and diagnosis guidelines to include an insightful response to the building social backlash against the so-called "child abuse industry." Distinguished scholar and experienced practitioner Kathleen Coulborn Faller applies twenty-five years of clinical experience and state-of-the-art research to offer authoritative guidance to both novice and experience practitioners. This Second Edition has been extensively revised to include A completely rewritten section on data gathering and analysis Updated assessment techniques and instruments Detailed coverage of post assessment intervention strategies Revised chapters that reflect up-to-date research and practice Extensive analysis of the backlash against child abuse cases Understanding and Assessing Child Sexual Maltreatment, Second Edition presents a wealth of practical information and field-tested tools. Author Kathleen Coulborn Faller uses clear language and numerous case studies to address all aspects of child sexual abuse including: the scope of the problem, professional collaboration, data analysis and diagnosis, and sexual abuse in special contexts. An essential resource for child protection workers, mental health practitioners, lawyers, and law enforcement personnel, Understanding and Assessing Child Sexual Maltreatment, Second Edition is also an ideal supplementary text for graduate courses in child welfare practice, social work, and psychology.