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infanticide
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Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of resources being spent on weak or disabled offspring. Unwanted infants were usually abandoned to die of exposure, but in some societies they were deliberately killed. Infanticide is generally illegal, but in some places the practice is tolerated, or the prohibition is not strictly enforced.
Research
2,352 papers- Antagonistic circuits mediating infanticide and maternal care in female mice.Nature · 2023
- Infanticide: contrasting views.Archives of women's mental health · 2005
- Infanticide.Lancet (London, England) · 2006
- Infanticide.The New England journal of medicine · 1998
- Discussing infanticide.Journal of medical ethics · 2013
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
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Article
78 sectionsContents
- History
- Paleolithic and Neolithic
- In ancient history
- In the New World
- In the Old World
- Ancient Egypt
- Carthage
- Greece and Rome
- Middle Ages
- Judaism
- Pagan European tribes
- Christianity
- Arabia
- Islam
- Ukraine and Russia
- Great Britain
- Asia
- China
- Japan
- South Asia
- Africa
- Australia
- South Australia and Victoria
- Western Australia
- Australian Capital Territory
- New South Wales
- Northern Territory
- Oceania
- New Zealand
- Marshall Islands
- North America
- Inuit
- Canada
- Native Americans
- Mexico
- South America
- Brazil
- Peru, Paraguay and Bolivia
- Modern times
- Benin
- Mainland China
- India
- Pakistan
- Oceania
- England and Wales
- United States
- Canada
- Spain
- Explanations for the practice
- Economic
- Social stigma
- Psychiatric
- Ethics
- Current law
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Canada
- England and Wales
- The Netherlands
- Poland
- Romania
- United States
- State legislation
- Federal legislation
- Wider effects
- Surviving children
- Societal
- Prevention
- Sex education and birth control
- Psychiatric intervention
- Safe surrender
- Employment
- In animals
- In art and literature
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of resources being spent on weak or disabled offspring. Unwanted infants were usually abandoned to die of exposure, but in some societies they were deliberately killed. Infanticide is generally illegal, but in some places the practice is tolerated, or the prohibition is not strictly enforced.
Most Stone Age human societies routinely practiced infanticide, and estimates of children killed by infanticide in the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras vary from 15 to 50 percent. Infanticide continued to be common in most societies after the historical era began, including ancient Greece, ancient Rome, the Phoenicians, ancient China, ancient Japan, Pre-Islamic Arabia, early modern Europe, Aboriginal Australia, Native Americans, and Native Alaskans.