Factors of parricide: Allowance of the use of battered child syndrome as a defense

Children who kill a parent may be mentally ill or dangerously antisocial, but most often they are severely abused. However, most abused children do not resort to killing a parent. Children who do commit murder do so out of desperation when family members and friends have failed to help them. This article discusses issues surrounding allowance of the defense of battered child syndrome as a justification for parricide. An argument will be made for the expansion of the self-defense claim to include battered child syndrome.