Effects of Sex and Race of Perpetrator and Method of Killing

on Outcome Judgments in a Mock Filicide Case

KERRI F. DUNN GLORIA COWAN1 AND DANIEL DOWNS

Claremont McKenna College California State University, San Bernardino

The present study examined college student mock jurors’ judgments of legal in-
sanity, outcome severity, and death-penalty decisions in a filicide case. The sex and
race of perpetrator (Black or White) and method of killing (shooting or smothering)
were varied in a between-subjects design. A 3-way interaction was found for out-
come severity, supporting Jones & Davis’ (1965) attributional principle of stronger
dispositional attributions for unexpected behaviors. As predicted, White women
were judged more severely when they used a gun compared to when they smothered,
whereas White men were judged more severely when they smothered compared to
when they used a gun. The most severe judgments were made for Black male
perpetrators who used a gun. Results are discussed in terms of sex and racial
stereotypes.

Few acts invoke such horror as the death of a child at the hands of a
parent. Although filicide has been used as a generic term to describe the
killing of children by parents (Stanton & Simpson, 2002), distinct classifi-
cations such as neonicide, infanticide (Adinkrah, 2001), early filicide, and late
filicide (Sadoff, 1995) have been made based on the age of child at the time
of the killing. Fairly clear and distinct mental state and motivational pat-
terns have been proposed for the neonaticidal and infanticidal mother (Sa-
doff, 1995). However, the profiles of mothers who kill at later ages and
fathers who kill in general are much more speculative and unclear (Sadoff,
1995).
The present study focuses on early filicide perpetrators (1 to 9 years) and
is concerned with mock jurors’ judgments of responsibility, via the affirm-
ative defense of not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI), and sentencing
decisions. In particular, we examine the effects of sex and race of perpe-
trators who use different methods of killing their children on mock jurors’

1
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Gloria Cowan, Department
of Psychology, California State University–San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San
Bernardino, CA 92407. E-mail: Glorandbil@aol.com

2395

Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2006, 36, 10, pp. 2395–2416.

r 2006 Copyright the Authors
Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
2396 DUNN ET AL.

assessments of legal insanity, severity of sentencing,2 and death-penalty

decisions. Moreover, we examine some of the perceived motivational, ag-
gravating, and mitigating factors that jurors may impute to a parent who
kills his or her children.
Research has indicated that jurors come to the courtroom bearing com-
monsense notions of justice and fairness (Finkel, 1995, 1997; Finkel &
Groscup, 1997; Finkel & Sales, 1997). Although the exact nature of how
these attitudes and beliefs operate has not yet been modeled conclusively,
there is ample research to indicate that jurors bring a multitude of myths
(Perlin, 1990), prototypes (Finkel & Groscup, 1997; Smith & Studebaker,
1996), heuristics (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974), and stereotypes (Stalans &
Diamond, 1990) to court with them. If jurors arrive at trial with precon-
ceived notions about the circumstances that surround filicide, then there
would seem to be a good chance that their decisions, at least at times, would
be affected by such preconceptions (Finkel, Burke, & Chavez, 2000).
The media generally have given extensive coverage to maternal filicides
(Simpson & Stanton, 2000), yet few cases of paternal filicide come to mind
quickly. Although far from conclusive, research in the area of maternal
filicide is more extensive than in the area of paternal filicide (Adinkrah,
2001; d’Orban, 1979; Marleau, Poulin, Webanck, Roy, & Laporte, 1999;
McKee & Shea, 1998; Resnick, 1969; Stanton & Simpson, 2002; Wilczynski,
1995, 1997).
This increased attention to maternal filicide may stem from the percep-
tion that women kill their children more frequently than do men. Although
there is conflicting research on this particular issue (Adinkrah, 2001;
Vanamo, Kauppi, Karkola, Merikanto, & Räsänen, 2001), some research
has indicated that women are more likely than men to be perpetrators of
neonaticide and infanticide (McKee & Shea, 1998). However, other research
has indicated that as the child’s age increases, so does the likelihood that the
parental perpetrator will be male (Adinkrah, 2001; Bourget & Bradford,
1990; Copeland, 1985; Resnick, 1969). Moreover, some statistics have in-
dicated that, in general, filicide is as likely to be committed by a father as by
a mother (Wilczynski & Morris, 1993). These conflicting data likely are
related to differences in the age group of the victim being studied, as well as
the composition of the perpetrating group. For example, it is possible that if
stepfathers and boyfriends were included regularly in all filicide analyses, the
number of paternal filicides actually might exceed maternal filicide.

2
Although we acknowledge that jurors in real cases (with the exception of death-penalty
cases) do not administer sentencing decisions, we consider our sentencing decisions to be like
typical attitude measures, measuring general attitudes toward perpetrators (e.g., Dienstbier
et al., 1998).
 SEX, RACE, AND METHOD OF KILLING IN FILICIDE 2397

Given this conflicting evidence and the possibility that paternal filicide is
at least as likely to occur as maternal filicide (at least within certain age
ranges; Wilczynski & Morris, 1993), why has media coverage of maternal
filicide been so extensive (Simpson & Stanton, 2000), while coverage of
paternal filicide is less frequent or, at least, more truncated? One explanation
may be related to normative views of aggression. In general, women are
believed to be less aggressive than men, and women’s aggression has tended
to be ignored (White & Kowalski, 1998). However, Campbell (1999) argued
that when women are aggressive, their aggressive behaviors are stigmatized
as unnatural. For example, it also has been argued that women are viewed as
out of place in the criminal justice system (Worrall, 1981). Therefore, crimes
committed by women tend to be pathologized more than crimes committed
by men (Wilczynski, 1997).
Additionally, the female stereotype of woman as mother may drive soci-
etal expectations that women are maternal and nurturing (Caplan, 2000;
Russo, 1976). That is, women are expected to have the intrinsic ability and
desire to raise, love, and nurture children. Moreover, according to this
motherhood mandate, motherhood is central to the definition of the adult
female in society (Russo, 1976). This mandate requires that women not only
have children, but raise them well. Fine and Carney (2001) argued that
women are more likely than men to be assigned individual responsibility for
the welfare of their children and also are charged with failure to protect their
children more than are men.
This analysis has been supported by research in other areas as well, such
as police reports of violent crime committed by women. For example, in an
archival study of data collected in Canada by Silverman and Kennedy
(1988), only 6% of women who killed their spouses were labeled by the
police as having a mental illness, whereas 67% of the mothers who com-
mitted filicide were labeled mentally ill on police reports. Although these
data reflect the perceptions of police officers, rather than jurors or mock
jurors, they do indicate that women who kill their children may be perceived
to be mentally ill. That is, since the motherhood mandate suggests that
women are endless fountains of nurturance (Caplan & Caplan, 1999; Russo,
1976), a woman who kills her own children is violating the stereotype of
femininity by expressing violent behaviors that are both unexpected and
unaccepted within the framework of traditional femininity. Women who
commit filicide, therefore, are seen as compromising and ultimately rejecting
the role that society expects them to maintain.
Given the higher perceived prevalence of mothers killing their children
than fathers, the stigmatization of female criminals as mentally ill, and the
strong normative dictate that women be good mothers, would maternal
filicide perpetrators be judged differently from paternal filicide perpetrators?
2398 DUNN ET AL.

Despite factors suggesting that female perpetrators of filicide would be

judged more harshly than male perpetrators, archival research indicates that
women are acquitted more often for the crime of filicide than are men
(Armstrong, 1999; Lymburner & Roesch, 1999). Some archival research also
indicates that women are more likely to use a psychiatric plea and to be dealt
with through the use of informal, treatment-oriented methods, whereas men
tend to receive more custodial sentences (Wilczynski, 1997). However, these
data were collected in Great Britain and may not generalize to psychiatric
pleas in the United States.
Notwithstanding differences attributed to culture, the maternal role
generally would hold women to be more responsible than the paternal role
would for men. Thus, this determination as demonstrated in actual filicide
cases may be mitigated by judgments of mental illness and, ultimately, legal
insanity. Because women who kill their children are violating two strong
cultural norms (i.e., women as nonaggressive/noncriminal, and women as
nurturers), we predict that mock jurors will judge female perpetrators of
filicide to be legally insane more often than male perpetrators of filicide.
A factor that may be related to the disposition of male and female filicide
perpetrators in the criminal justice system may be the method of killing.
Some laboratory research has found that when weapons are involved in
crimes (holding all crime attributes constant), mock jurors tend to render
sentences that are more severe (Dienstbier et al., 1998). Therefore, we also
might expect to see a decrease in perceptions of responsibility based on legal
insanity dispositions, and an increase in severity of sentences for those con-
victed, regardless of sex, when guns are used, compared to smothering.
Women who kill their children tend to use more passive means (poison-
ing, smothering, drowning, gassing, suffocation), compared to men who kill
their children (stabbing, striking, squeezing, shooting; Lewis, Baranoski,
Buchanan, & Benedek, 1998; Resnick, 1969; Silverman & Kennedy, 1988).
Thus, type of outcome (insanity acquittal vs. sentence imposed) in cases in
which women kill their children may be a function of both the method used
and the sex of the perpetrator.
We propose that judgments of outcome in filicide cases should vary as a
function of a combination of the sex of the perpetrator and the method of
killing. Specifically, when filicide is committed by sex-role-inconsistent
means, we expect that jurors will assign more severe outcomes. This pre-
diction is derived from Jones and Davis’ (1965) attributional theory of cor-
respondent inference. This model suggests that unexpected, out-of-role, and
norm-inconsistent behaviors lead to more extreme judgments. Because
women using guns and men smothering are sex-role incongruousFthat is,
they are less common (Resnick, 1969) and more unexpectedFwe expect
sentences to be harsher in these conditions.
 SEX, RACE, AND METHOD OF KILLING IN FILICIDE 2399

These Sex  Method predictions may apply only when the perpetrator is
White not Black. Little research has explored the role of race as a factor in
either maternal or paternal filicides in the United States. In a study of 20
adult women who were referred to a forensic psychiatric hospital after being
charged with murdering their children, McKee and Shea (1998) found that
55% of their sample were Black and 45% were White. Another study of the
profile of parents who killed their children (under 6 years of age) in Detroit,
Michigan between 1982 and 1986 indicated that approximately 92% were
Black. Although the Black population in Detroit exceeds 80% (‘‘Profiling
46,000 Cities,’’ 2000), these findings suggest that, regardless of population
statistics, Blacks do commit filicide.
Despite these statistics, more attention seems to be given to the White
woman filicidal perpetrator than any other Sex  Race combination.
Thus, another question that arises is whether racial characteristics of filicidal
perpetrators may affect mock juridical decision making, either indepen-
dently or in combination with the sex of the perpetrator and the method
of killing.
As previously noted, research has indicated that jurors bring a vast array
of stereotypes and myths to the courtroom. Racial stereotypes, in particular,
have been found to influence judgments of guilt and sentencing (Boden-
hausen, 1990; Dunn, Willis-Esqueda, & Schopp, 1998) and are related to
harsher treatment of minority men within the legal system (Gorden, 1993;
Gorden, Bindrim, McNicholas, & Walden, 1988; Willis-Esqueda & Swan-
son, 1997). These stronger responsibility assignments and the overall
harsher treatment of minority males in the criminal justice system are con-
sistent with media presentations of crime that frequently link violent crime
to Blacks and Hispanics (Oliver, 1994). Moreover, these associations
serve to reinforce further the stereotypes of minority men’s criminality
(Willis-Esqueda, 1997).
Given the strong associative link between African American men and
violent crime, the question thus arises as to whether Black men will be
treated more harshly for the crime of filicide despite the greater attention
given to White female perpetrators in filicidal cases. There are two possi-
bilities that may be posited regarding the effects involving perpetrator race.
First, one could expect that jurors will render more severe sentences for
Black men who use a gun than any other combination of sex, race, and
method. This outcome would be based on stereotypes involving Black men
and violent crime, as well as prior research indicating that such stereotypes
are linked to harsher responsibility, guilt, and sentencing assignments
(Bodenhausen, 1990; Dunn et al., 1998; Willis-Esqueda & Swanson, 1997).
The tendency for Black men to be judged more severely than White men
or women in general should override the alternative expectation based on
2400 DUNN ET AL.

correspondent inference theory (Jones & Davis, 1965). Second, based on

attribution theory (Jones & Davis, 1965), Black men who smother should
receive harsher sentences than Black men who use a gun because of the
stereotype-inconsistent method involved.
In light of the stereotypes and expectations associated with the sex of
filicide perpetrators, as well as the race of violent criminals in general, the
current study explores the effect of sex, race, and method of killing on
insanity judgments and sentencing severity in cases of early filicide (where
the children are under 6 years of age). In summary, we expect that college
students serving as mock jurors will make different judgments about the
sanity of perpetrators based on their sex. Specifically, we expect female
perpetrators to be found NGRI more often than male perpetrators. More-
over, we expect that the sex of the perpetrator will interact with method of
killing such that individuals who use sex-inconsistent methods of killing will
be sentenced more harshly. We further expect that Black men who shoot will
receive the harshest sentence and will be more likely to be given the death
penalty than any other perpetrator-method combination.
A final consideration is the role of jurors. Although a clear pattern of sex
differences among jurors has not been identified, sex does seem to be linked
with verdicts in rape and battered-women cases (Ellsworth & Mauro, 1998).
Thus, given the societal norm of women as mothers, female jurors may react
more negatively than male jurors to the killing of a child. Thus, we examine
the effect of the sex of jurors on outcome severity.

Method

Design and Participants

The study design was a 2 (Sex of Perpetrator)  2 (Method of Killing:

gunshot or smothering)  2 (Race of Perpetrator: White or Black) between-
subjects, fully crossed factorial design. Participants were 238 undergraduate
students (149 female, 88 male, 1 who did not indicate gender), recruited from
a state university in southern California, with a mean age of 27 years
(SD 5 8.82), and who participated in exchange for course credit.
The racial composition of participants, which reflects the demographics
of the surrounding population more generally, was as follows: 40% White,
28% Hispanic, 18% Black, 5% Asian, 3% American Indian, and 6%
‘‘Other.’’ Regarding socioeconomic characteristics of the sample, mean
family income fell between $30,000 and $40,000.
Participants volunteered by taking questionnaires that had been coun-
terbalanced by condition from the Human Subjects Volunteer Bulletin
 SEX, RACE, AND METHOD OF KILLING IN FILICIDE 2401

Board and returning them to a central location. Each of the eight cells
contained from 29 to 31 participants.

Materials and Procedure

Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that contained an

informed consent, a demographic questionnaire, a fact sheet describing the
filicide case, and jury instructions. The stimulus packet contained a one-page
fact pattern detailing a filicide case and a series of 7-point Likert-type
questions regarding motives for the filicide, potential aggravators and mi-
tigators of the crime, characteristics of the crime and perpetrator circum-
stances of the crime, as well as outcome judgments.
Prior to reading details of the filicide, mock jurors were told that the
perpetrator had killed his or her children and that the facts of the case
followed. In the scenario, the perpetrator was described as either the wife
(Michelle Jackson) or the husband (Sam Jackson), and as either Black or
White.
Next, details of the events preceding the filicide were outlined. The sce-
nario began with a couple that was experiencing marital problems 8 years
into their marriage when their financial situation became troublesome.
Multiple interpretations were offered for the motive of the killing, and they
occurred in the following order: (a) the couple was described as experiencing
financial difficulty; (b) the nonperpetrating spouse was experiencing stress
and drifting away from the family; (c) the perpetrator saw a psychiatrist for
antidepressants; (d) the spouse suggested a separation, filed for divorce, and
was seeking full custody of the children; (e) an attorney informed the per-
petrator that the chances of custody were equivocal; (f) a neighbor called
Child Protective Services (CPS) on the perpetrator, suggesting that the
children were being neglected; (g) the perpetrator purchased a life-insurance
policy on the children from a door-to-door salesman; and (h) the perpetrator
made an attempt at suicide and was hospitalized for anxiety and depression.
Finally, upon release from the hospital, the perpetrator killed the three
children.
The description regarding the method of killing was one of two scenarios:
Sam (Michelle) took a long look at the children and then proceeded to kill
each child, one at a time ‘‘shooting them with a gun at point-blank range’’ or
‘‘smothering them with a pillow.’’ The fact pattern left no doubt that the
parent had killed the children. Thus, guilt was not an issue in this case.
Rather, we focused on responsibility (via NGRI) and sentencing severity.
A brief description of the trial included conflicting expert evidence
regarding insanity. Specifically, the prosecutor called a psychiatrist who
2402 DUNN ET AL.

testified that the perpetrator was able to appreciate right from wrong at the
time of the killing, whereas the defense psychiatrist testified that the per-
petrator actually suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was not able to
appreciate that killing the children was wrong.
Following the presentation of the case, participants were asked three
questions that served to evaluate the effectiveness of the manipulations.
Specifically, they were asked what the sex, race, and method of killing
were in their specific scenario. All participants correctly answered these
questions.
Next, participants were asked to respond to questions on a 7-point scale
ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). These items assessed
participants’ perceptions of potential motives for the killing. These motives
include mental illness, financial gain, lying in wait, spousal revenge, des-
peration, and not wanting the children.
Perceived characteristics of the crime and perpetrator also were assessed
via 7-point questions. These items examined perceived heinousness, violence,
and deliberateness of the crime; as well as sympathy for the perpetrator.
These items also were used to assess mock jurors’ consideration of these
circumstances as potential mitigators and aggravators of the crime for sen-
tencing and death-penalty decisions.
The two primary dependent measuresFlegal insanity and sentencing
decisionFwere introduced first via a description of the criteria for judg-
ments of legal insanity according to California Jury Instructions, Criminal
(California Jury Instructions, Criminal [CALJIC], 1993). The instructions
conformed to the M’Naghten standard of proof, which is generally con-
sidered the more conservative of the two most common insanity pleas (e.g.,
M’Naghten v. The American Law Institute [ALI] Model penal code, 1962,
y4.01; Borum & Fulero, 1999). The instructions read, in part, ‘‘A person is
insane if he or she is incapable of knowing or understanding the nature and
quality of his or her act [or] of distinguishing right from wrong at the time of
the commission of the offense’’ (CALJIC, 1993, pp. 141-142). The instruc-
tions further indicated that mental illness and legal insanity are not nec-
essarily the same dispositions. Participants then were asked to judge whether
the perpetrator was legally insane or not legally insane.
Participants who checked not legally insane were next given sentencing
instructions (CALJIC, 1993). These instructions indicated that the mock
jurors should consider (or weigh) the existence of any special circumstances
(i.e., financial gain, lying in wait, multiple murders), as well as whether the
crime was committed while the defendant was under mental duress. More-
over, they were to consider whether the defendant suffered a mental disease
that affected his or her ability to appreciate the criminality of his or her
actions, or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of the law.
 SEX, RACE, AND METHOD OF KILLING IN FILICIDE 2403

Finally, participants were instructed that they may consider any other
extenuating factor or sympathetic aspect of the defendant’s character. Jurors
then were asked to choose between life in prison with the possibility of
parole in 25 years (LWP), life in prison without the possibility of parole
(LWOP), or the death penalty.3
The analysis used three dependent measures. First, the dichotomous
measure of legal insanity was used. Second, the insanity decision was com-
bined with the alternative life-sentencing decisions (LWP or LWOP) and the
death-penalty option to form a four-item outcome-severity decision. The
decision to combine what is technically a guilt disposition (i.e., the insanity
variable) with the other sentencing dispositions was made for both meth-
odological and substantive reasons.
From a methodological perspective, the creation of a four-level outcome
measure is associated with increased variance and, therefore, is generally a
more sensitive measure. Our intention was to assess jurors’ perceptions of
the responsibility level of different perpetrators of filicide, and an NGRI
outcome technically negates the perpetrator’s responsibility and renders ac-
quittees ineligible for criminal sanctions (Borum & Fulero, 1999).
Research has indicated that public perception of insanity acquittees is
that they simply go free (Borum & Fulero, 1999). Therefore, NGRI sits at
the low end of the ultimate outcome measure (which we termed outcome
severity), whereas death sits at the high end. The third measure that was used
was a dichotomous death-penalty measure that assessed the death-penalty
decision versus the two other life-sentencing decisions (combining LWP and
LWOP).

Results

Across conditions, 48 (20%) out of 238 participants rated the perpetrator

to be insane, 62 (26%) sentenced the perpetrator to life with parole, and 88
(37%) sentenced the perpetrator to life without parole. The remaining 40
(17%) participants designated the death penalty as a sentence.

Sex and Insanity

We first tested the hypothesis that women would be judged legally insane
more often than men for killing their children. A simple chi-square analysis
was conducted to determine if mock jurors differentially rated male and

3
We are mindful that death-penalty cases are much more complex than other cases. For
example, death-penalty cases require death qualification of jurors, and jurors are permitted to
make sentencing decisions. Here again, we use the death penalty as a measure of outcome
severity, rather than a measure of willingness to execute per se.
2404 DUNN ET AL.

female perpetrators of filicide to be insane. Contrary to our hypothesis, the

results indicated no difference in insanity ratings as a function of sex of the
perpetrator, w2(1, N 5 238) 5 0.85, p 4 .05. In addition, no other variables
alone or in combination with one another affected the insanity ratings
(ps 4 .05).

Method of Killing and Sentencing

We next tested the hypothesis that the method of killingFinvolving a

gun compared to smotheringFwould be related to outcome severity, re-
gardless of sex of the perpetrator. An ANOVA was calculated using method
as the independent measure and outcome severity as the dependent measure.
Results of method of killing on outcome reveal that participants did not
assign jurors different outcomes based on the use of a gun versus manual
smothering, F(1, 236) 5 0.07, p 4 .05.

Interactions

We examined the interactive relationships of sex of the perpetrator,

method of killing, race of perpetrator, and sex of juror on outcome severity.
We thus addressed two hypotheses; namely, the prediction that perpetrators
who use sex-inconsistent means of killing would receive harsher outcomes
than those who use sex-consistent means, and the hypothesis that Black men
who use a gun would receive harsher outcomes (particularly more death
sentences) than any other combination of sex, race, and method.
A logistic regression was calculated to assess the relationship of the four
predictor variables (sex of perpetrator, race, method of killing, and sex of
juror) on the dichotomized measure of death-penalty decisions. The results
indicate that neither the overall model, w2(1, 12) 5 0.09, p 4 .05, nor the
predictors entered independently or in combination with one another sig-
nificantly contributed to the model (ps 4 .05) to predict mock jurors’ death-
penalty decisions.
A 2 (Sex of Perpetrator)  2 (Race of Perpetrator)  2 (Method of
Killing)  2 (Sex of Juror) ANOVA was calculated on the four-level out-
come variable (ranging from insanity to death penalty). The results indicate a
three-way interaction between race of perpetrator, sex of perpetrator, and
method, F(1, 222) 5 4.12, p o .05. Separate two-way interactions of method
and sex of perpetrator for Black and White perpetrators were not significant
(ps 4 .05). Thus, it was the overall pattern, not the separate two-way in-
teractions, that contributed to the effect. As Figures 1 and 2 indicate, this
relationship was a doubly crossed interaction.
 SEX, RACE, AND METHOD OF KILLING IN FILICIDE 2405

Outcome Severity 2

1.5 White Male

Perpetrator
1
White Female
0.5 Perpetrator

0
Gun Smothering
Method of Killing

Figure 1. Outcome severity means for White perpetrator.

2.5

2
Outcome Severity

Black Male
1.5 Perpetrator

1 Black Female
Perpetrator
0.5

0
Gun Smothering
Method of Killing

Figure 2. Outcome severity means for Black perpetrator.

The hypothesis of outcome severity based on sex-inconsistent methods

was supported for White perpetrators, yet it was not supported for Black
perpetrators, although none of the eight means differed significantly from
one another (ps 4 .05). However, White women who used a gun (M 5 1.85)
tended to be treated more harshly than White women who smothered
(M 5 1.31), whereas White men who smothered (M 5 1.60) received slightly
harsher outcomes than did White men who used a gun (M 5 1.21).
This pattern was different for Black perpetrators and provided tentative
support for our hypothesis regarding Black men. That is, Black men who
used a gun tended to be treated more harshly (M 5 1.94) than Black men
who smothered (M 5 1.46), whereas Black women who smothered
(M 5 1.43) were treated more harshly than were Black women who used a
gun (M 5 1.09). Furthermore, the means for Black men who used a gun
2406 DUNN ET AL.

were higher (indicating a more severe outcome) than they were for any other
combination of Race  Sex  Method, with the exception of White
women.
This analysis did not indicate any other main effects, two-way interac-
tions, or four-way interactions for sentencing. Thus, although we had ex-
pected sex of juror to be a factor in outcome decisions, no such relationship
was found.

Intercorrelations: Outcomes by Gender and Race of Perpetrator

Two sets of correlations were calculated to assess the relationship be-

tween the primary dependent measures and possible motives, aggravators,
mitigators, and characteristics of the crime and the perpetrator. These were
calculated for both the sample as a whole and for each of the Sex  Per-
petrator Race combinations: White men, White women, Black men, and
Black women. Table 1 contains the overall correlations across all conditions.
Overall, insanity judgments were associated positively with mental illness,
mercy killing, and sympathy for the perpetrator; and negatively associated
with spousal revenge. Although mental illness was associated with judg-
ments of insanity, it should be noted that neither sex of the perpetrator nor
race of the perpetrator was associated with perceptions of mental illness
(sex, r 5 .04, p 4 .05; race, r 5 - .04, p 4 .05) or with insanity decisions.
Aggravating factors were correlated positively with the four-item out-
come variable and the dichotomous death-penalty variable. That is, partic-
ipants who were more likely to believe the killing was for financial gain, for
spousal revenge, heinous, deliberate, or occurred when the parent was lying
in wait assigned harsher outcomes. Similarly, financial gain, lying in wait,
and deliberation were associated with the assignment of more death-penalty
sentences. Finally, sympathy for the perpetrator and mental illness of the
perpetrator were associated with less harsh outcomes and lower death-
sentencing rates for the perpetrator.
Table 2 contains the Race  Sex correlations between the various out-
come measures (insanity, outcome severity, death penalty) and the motives
and characteristics of the crime and perpetrators (which might be viewed
also as aggravators and mitigators). Mental illness and sympathy for the
perpetrator (factors that might mitigate the crime) similarly were associated
with the insanity and outcome-severity variables for all four groups. With
respect to the insanity variable, sympathy for the perpetrator and mental
illness consistently predicted higher insanity ratings for all groups, except
that mental illness was not associated with insanity for Black women.
Moreover, sympathy for the perpetrator and mental illness were associated
Table 1

Correlations Between Outcome Measures, Motives, and Attributes of the Crime Across All Conditions

Children
Mental Financial Lying Spouse not Mercy
illness gain in wait revenge Desperate wanted killing Heinous Violent Deliberate Sympathy
Insanity .297 .078 .089 - .234 .025 .080 .147 .094 - .060 .105 .410
Outcome - .371 .190 .188  .244 .037 .073 - .137 .186 .044 .167 - .454
severity
Life vs. - .178 .173 .222 .127 .039 .107 - .080 .077 .051 .162 - .195
death
penalty
Note. Desperate 5 perpetrator felt desperate; Deliberate 5 murders were deliberate; Sympathy 5 sympathy for perpetrator. For
insanity and life vs. death-penalty judgments, higher scores indicate insanity and death penalty.
p o .05. p o .01.
SEX, RACE, AND METHOD OF KILLING IN FILICIDE
2407
Table 2

Correlations Between Outcome Measures, Motives, and Attributes of the Crime for Various Categories of Perpetrators
Gender/ Children
2408 DUNN ET AL.

race of Mental Financial Lying Spouse not Mercy

perp illness gain in wait revenge Desperate wanted killing Heinous Violent Deliberate Sympathy

Insanity W/M .35 - .17 - .11 - .42 - .33 - .01 .19 - .12 .10 - .12 .39
W/W .32 - .03 - .07 - .21 - .01 - .02 .23 - .07 .12 - .06 .41
B/M .32 .05 .05 - .07 .20 .02 .21 .04 .03 - .23 .50
B/W .21 - .14 - .18 - .24 .40 - .26 - .06 - .21 - .002 - .03 .38
Outcome W/M - .42 .33 .26 .37 .31 - .05 - .09 .13 .06 .12 - .50
severity W/W - .39 .23 .33 .19 .04 .09 - .35 .32 .11 .24 - .44
B/M - .38 .06 .03 .02 - .09 .06 - .12 - .05 .03 .17 - .49
B/W - .31 .09 .11 .33 - .11 .15 .01 .30 .02 .16 - .42
Life vs. W/M - .40 .17 .27 .02 .09 - .07 - .02 - .05 - .05 .03 - .27
death W/W - .21 .32 .39 .18 .03 .20 - .30 .26 .19 .43 - .26
penalty B/M .03 .05 .05 .00 .17 .08 .07 .02 .11 .05 - .02
B/W - .18 .19 .13 .28 - .11 .14 - .02 .04 - .04 .10 - .21

Note. Perp 5 perpetrator; Desperate 5 perpetrator felt desperate; Deliberate 5 murders were deliberate; Sympathy 5 sympathy for
perpetrator; W/M 5 White Men; W/W 5 White Women; B/M 5 Black Men; B/W 5 Black Women. For insanity and life vs. death-
penalty judgments, higher scores indicate insanity and death penalty.
p o .05. p o .01. p o .001.
 SEX, RACE, AND METHOD OF KILLING IN FILICIDE 2409

with leniency in the outcome-severity measure for all groups of perpetrators.

However, these two factors (mental illness and sympathy) were not related
to death-penalty decisions for any group except White men.
Correlations of other possible motivational factors with the insanity
variable varied among sex/race groups. Spousal revenge and desperation
were associated negatively with insanity ratings for White men only. Un-
wanted children were associated negatively with insanity ratings only for
Black women.
Differences emerged among the correlates for the outcome-severity var-
iable as well. Although both sympathy for the perpetrator and mental illness
were associated negatively with outcome severity for all perpetrators, a
considerably larger number of aggravators and mitigators were associated
with outcome severity for White perpetrators than for Black perpetrators.
Specifically, for White men, financial gain, lying in wait, spousal revenge,
and desperation were associated positively with outcome severity; and lying
in wait and crime heinousness were associated positively with outcome se-
verity for White women. Also, mercy killing was associated negatively with
outcome severity for White women.
In contrast, only two factors were associated with outcome severity for
Black perpetrators. Spousal revenge and crime heinousness were associated
positively with outcome severity for Black women only. For Black men, with
the exception of mitigating factors, no extralegal factors were associated
with outcome severity.
In terms of the death-penalty variable, even fewer correlates were found
overall. Specifically, mental illness predicted death-penalty decisions only
for White men. In contrast, three aggravating factors and one mitigating
factor were associated with death-penalty decisions for White women: fi-
nancial gain, lying in wait, deliberation, and mercy killing. Not one
aggravator, mitigator, or characteristic of the crime or perpetrator predicted
death-penalty outcomes for Black men or Black women.

Discussion

Neither of our main effect predictions was supported by the analysis.

Prior research indicating that women are both more likely to use a psychi-
atric plea in filicide cases (Wilczynski, 1997) and more likely to be acquitted
for filicide than men (Armstrong, 1999; Lymburner & Roesch, 1999), as well
the very strong cultural norm that women are non-aggressive (White &
Kowalski, 1998) led to our prediction that female early filicidal perpetrators
would be pathologized more than would male early filicidal perpetrators.
However, our analysis indicates no such relationship. Moreover, we had
2410 DUNN ET AL.

predicted that perpetrators who used a gun (a method traditionally asso-

ciated with more extreme sentencing) would, regardless of race or sex, be
treated more harshly than perpetrators who smothered. Again, this main
effect prediction was not supported by the analysis.
However, several key findings did emerge from this analysis. First, our
interactional hypothesisFthat early filicidal perpetrators who killed their
children using sex-inconsistent means would receive harsher outcomesFwas
supported for the White perpetrators, but not for the Black perpetrators.
Fine and Carney (2001) suggested that role nonconformity is influential in
punishing women who are considered criminal. In the present study, the
method of killing was regarded as a sex-consistent or sex-inconsistent factor.
Thus, a White woman who shoots her children and a White man who
smothers his children are using methods that are sex-inconsistent (Collins,
Shaughnessy, Bradley, & Brown, 2001; Lewis et al., 1998; Resnick, 1969;
Silverman & Kennedy, 1988).
Blackman (1990) suggested that the response of the criminal justice sys-
tem is influenced by racist as well as sexist assumptions when a child has not
been protected. Jurors’ decisions in criminal (particularly capital) cases are
not racially neutral (e.g., see Baldus, Woodworth, & Pulaski, 1990; Bowers
& Pierce, 1981; Dunn et al., 1998; Haney, 1995a, 1995b, 1997; Sweeney &
Haney, 1992; U.S. General Accounting Office, 1990).
The findings suggest that the tendency for Black men to be judged more
harshly in the criminal justice system as a result of stereotypes linking them
to violent crime using weapons overrides the alternative possible hypothesis
based on Jones and Davis’ (1965) correspondent inference theory. Predic-
tions based on correspondent inference theory would suggest that norm-
incongruous (or stereotype-incongruous) behaviors (i.e., methods of killing)
should lead to more extreme judgments. This theory obviously was not
supported in the current study, as Black men actually received harsher out-
comes when they used guns (a sex- and racially consistent method) than
when they smothered (a sex- and racially inconsistent method). The same
was true for Black female filicidal perpetrators. That is, Black women who
smothered their children (a sex-consistent method) were treated more
harshly than were Black women who used guns. These findings represent the
converse of the sex-inconsistent findings that were found for White perpe-
trators.
Despite the fact that our main effect predictions regarding sex and race
of the perpetrator were not supported, interesting differences in the factors
associated with the outcome variables (i.e., insanity, sentence, and death-
penalty decisions) did emerge. For example, with the exception of mental
illness, which was positively related to insanity for all three of the four race-
sex perpetrator combinations (except Black Women), and sympathy of the
 SEX, RACE, AND METHOD OF KILLING IN FILICIDE 2411

perpetrator, which was positively related to outcome severity for all per-
petrators, more factors were associated with insanity and outcome-severity
decisions for White men than for any other group.
The fact that mental illness was not associated with insanity for Black
women may be a result of the stereotype of Black women as being able to
overcome any obstacle (Sparks, 1998). Also, perhaps the realization that
social structural variables are external barriers to adequate caretaking may
mitigate the association of mental illness and insanity for Black female per-
petrators. Finally, none of the factors were associated with the death penalty
for Black men or Black women.
There are two possible explanations that may be posited for the lack of
associated factors for Black men and Black women on the death-penalty
variable. A possibility is that the general societal schema regarding early
filicidal perpetrators is that they are White, thus rendering the associative
network larger and more complex than that for non-White filicidal perpe-
trators. Thus, aggravating and mitigating factors may not be available el-
ements when decisions about non-White filicidal perpetrators are made.
Alternatively, these results simply may reflect a quality of arbitrariness in
the decision-making process of mock jurors when rendering decisions about
Black perpetrators of violent crime, particularly with respect to death-
penalty decisions.
Certainly some patterns can be ascertained from the associations made
between the extralegal factors and the outcome variables for each type of
perpetrator. For example, mercy killing, which was a significant negative
correlate with outcome severity and death penalty for White women only,
may be related to stereotypes of White women as maternal and nurturing.
As previously noted, violations of these normative roles may be a source of
confusion for decision makers. Thus, jurors may need to search for some
reason why a White mother would kill her children, simply because the
perception of a White woman killing her children violates too many norms
(woman as mother and nurturer; woman as non-aggressive). Consider the
following quote from a recent law review article relating to mothers who kill
their children: ‘‘It makes sense that there would be a much higher frequency
of insanity in filicide than in other crimes because if not insane, how could a
mother murder her own children?’’ (Bienstock, 2003, p. 452).
The norm of women as mothers and nurturers seems less salient for
Black mothers, as the prototype for the murderer of one’s children seems to
be a White woman. For example, the historical image of Black ‘‘mammies’’
as nurturers of White children, rather than their own children (Sparks,
1998), may disrupt the nurturer stereotype for Black mothers. Moreover,
Black women are seen as more aggressive, assertive, and dominant than
White women or Black men (Collins, 1991).
2412 DUNN ET AL.

A final factor for consideration is the larger number of aggravating fac-

tors that were associated with death-penalty decisions for White women.
Social science research on women and the death penalty is sparse, and the
execution of women in general has generated considerable societal debate
(particularly without reference to the race of the female perpetrator). Our
results indicate that mock jurors associated more aggravating factors with
death-penalty decisions for White women than with any other group. This
phenomenon may have to do with the disbelief that a (White) woman would
kill her children, so that White women may present a moral dilemma to
those who vote to execute in general. Therefore, conjuring aggravating fac-
tors for the justification of a death sentence for White women may be the
only way that paternalistic jurors can follow through.
In aggregate, these results call for future research in the area of filicide,
particularly with respect to considerations of race and sex. Future research
would serve well to investigate these variables under more ecologically valid
circumstances. Furthermore, examination of actual adjudication of female
and male filicide perpetrators should include the method used. In actual
cases, it would be informative to determine whether severity of outcome is
associated with the method used.
As with any experimental piece, the current study is limited in terms of
external validity. First, the study focused on early filicidal perpetrators.
Others have distinguished between neonaticide, infanticide, early filicide,
and late filicide in terms of the profile of perpetrators (Sadoff, 1995). There-
fore, application of our research is limited to cases in which a parent
kills a child in early childhood. Additionally, the sample disproportionately
represented women and college students, making it difficult to demonstrate
any interactions of sex of juror with the experimental variables. However, the
other demographics of our sample do more closely represent those of a
typical jury pool in terms of ethnicity, income, and age. In sum, our research
suggests that the sex and race of the perpetrator, as well as the method
used in the killing, should be investigated further if we are to come to a
solid understanding of the mechanisms of juridical decision making in
filicide cases.

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