Examining the Role of Culture in Maternal Filicide in Korea, 1948-62.

Previous research on maternal filicide has noted a lack of resources and mental illness as important causal factors. Although most scholars accept that filicide should be understood in an appropriate cultural context, the processes by which macro-level structures such as culture and ideology are embodied in the situated behaviors of offenders and victims have been insufficiently explored. This paper explores maternal filicide in Korea from 1948 to 1962. It finds that cultural factors unique to mid-twentieth century Korea, such as polygyny and shame, influenced the characteristics of maternal filicide in ways that differentiate it from the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]