A visitor to the site has implicitly pointed out, quite fairly, that not all killers have come from broken families. Of course I wholly accept this. However there is powerful statistical evidence that children from lone parent families are more likely to be delinquent and to suffer from pretty well every measurable disadvantage - such as a poor academic record - and that is even after making adjustment for other factors. There is also evidence they are more likely to turn to crime. (Fuller details are in The Welfare State We're In, the most extreme and horrifying of which apply to the likelihood of a child being abused or killed in a family with a married, natural father present and those where there is an unmarried lover present).

The commentator mentioned Derrick Bird who killed 12 people. I had not looked into his family background. It may be that he is one of those killers who came from a stable background of two married parents. The family background is a significant factor, I suggest, not a determinant.

However, having briefly googled him, I came across the following even in his case:

Mr Bird [his twin brother], 52, a truck driver who once had his own garage business, was a well-known figure around Lamplugh.

In contrast to his brother, he lived in a substantial farmhouse. It was this disparity in their fortunes that apparently drove Derrick Bird, a taxi driver, to kill him in the early hours of June 2.

Derrick Bird was said to be angry when he learnt that their late father, Joseph, had given £25,000 as a gift to his twin shortly before his death.

Anyone who has been a brother or sister or who has more than one children will know just how powerful sibling rivalry can be. When one's sibling is favoured over oneself, it can sometimes feel like rejection by the parent. I think it is difficult to underestimate the power of the relationship with parents to cause good and bad. After all, one spends a great deal of the first twenty or so of one's life with them and, in many cases, the relationship continues to be very important thereafter. For many people, the parents are the emotional foundation of their lives.

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in Behaviour & Crime • Parenting

Comments (0) TrackBack (24)