A fatal love: Motherhood and its effects on criminal activity.

Every mother sacrifices a piece of herself for the sake of her children and most give that up more than willingly. In consequence, almost every person recognises their mother as the main driving force behind their success, from award shows to sports mothers are consistently recognised for the hard work they do and will continue to do up until the end of their lives. Easily most mothers would say they would do whatever it takes to protect their children, some take that a step further and are willing to take the life of another for the sake of their offspring. Every case is different but when a mother like Karla Homolka who assisted her husband in his serial killing, commits a crime of this nature the juries tend to sway in their favor as most people believe that a mother with children is justified no matter the extent to which she goes; which to an extent holds its validity.  Generally a mother acting in defense of their child is a form of self defense and is ethical as long as they remain within the bounds of protecting the well being of their offspring, as mothers are as able to think rationally as others, mothers and fathers see their children fairly differently, and legally an act of self defense can be performed by a third party. 

Firstly, oxytocin, the hormone released in the body of a mother in the early stages of their child's development also called “the hormone of attachment”, due to its ability to aid mother-child bonding from birth. The National Library of science has a paper titled “Oxytocin and early parent-infant interactions: A systematic review”. This paper is written about an experiment performed to to view the effects of this hormone both in social bonding conditions and in a general environment. The studies showed a positive correlation between higher levels of oxytocin and maternal-infant bonds during the infancy period. A quote directly from the paper states that “Increased maternal oxytocin levels were significantly related to more affectionate contact behaviors in mothers following mother-infant contact, synchrony, and engagement.” This means that increased oxytocin levels have positive effects on the connection between the mother and the infant but so far none of this has been proven that irritability and irrational emotions have been linked to the increase in oxytocin levels that are present in a mother. In another study performed by Marieke S. Tollenaar, M. Ruissen, B. M. Elzinga, and E. R. A. de Bruijn, to show the effects of oxytocin in a memory paradigm to see if it would cause emotional interference. The results of this study showed that the increase of the hormone caused no interference during the experiment in the affected participants. All of this research shows that a mother is able to think just as rationally as anyone else, and that in many cases the bond that was formed in infanthood would be the cause of a mothers need to protect their children.

Secondly, in yet another study reported in the NLS titled “Mothers' and fathers' observed interaction with preschoolers: Similarities and differences in parenting behavior in a well-resourced sample”, researchers Tine Steenhoff, Anne Tharner, and Mette Skovgaard Væver, analyzed the differences within the interactions between mother-child interactions and father-child interactions. In this study they found that mothers keeping into account the socio-economic status of the families and their situations, they found that mother-child interactions are usually much quieter, more affectionate and more socially oriented than in comparison a fathers interaction which tend to include a higher level of activity, risk taking, exploration and object oriented dyadic patterns. In their research on the parents' respective parental sensitivity which can also be described as a parents ability to notice a child's signals and respond correctly. A quote directly from the paper states that “Often mothers have been found to act more sensitive and less intrusive than fathers during parent-child interaction [47–51]. Also, in situations that require parental monitoring and limit-setting, mothers, as compared to fathers, have been found to use more gentle guidance, i.e. direction of children’s behavior in a non-power assertive manner”. All of this information implies that mothers are more sensitive to their children's emotions and feelings in comparison to fathers which would in turn mean that mothers would be more sensitive to the pain of their children in most cases and more likely to protect by whatever means necessary.

Many may argue that in any case criminal activity, especially fatal action is legally incorrect in every case; when in reality in Canada bill Bill C-26 (S.C. 2012 c. 9) Reforms to Self-Defence and Defence of Property: Technical Guide for Practitioners, section 34 states that: The new law applies not just to acts in defense of oneself, but also where a person acts in defense of a third person, without any special or different qualifications or requirements. The accused must reasonably perceive a threat against the other person, must act with a defensive purpose, and their actions must be reasonable in the circumstances. which entails that one may act in defense of a third party as long as they are acting within reason. Despite the fact that one's definition of acting within reason is subjective, in cases involving mother-child relationships the cases will often be centered around this as the general public can agree that mothers are more likely to act in protection of their children. The reasoning behind this may vary on a case to case basis but in general mothers acting in defense of their children is completely legal and justifiable in Canada as long as the act is within reason. It is fair to say that a jury would likely lean in the mothers favor and rightfully as long as the act was within society's definition of reason.

 In conclusion, the acts that a mother commits in defense of her child are not only justifiable in society but also by law. Furthermore, every case is unique and deserves its own separate time and consideration and unrightfully grouping women who happen to be mothers and labeling them as irresponsible and irrational due to hormones and conditions they can not control is unjust and shouldnt interfere with their right to defend themselves and their children. This raises the further question of whether or not fathers should be held to the same standard and accountability as mothers are as they too have that legal responsibility over their children?

Citation

Scatliffe, Naomi et al. “Oxytocin and early parent-infant interactions: A systematic review.” International journal of nursing sciences vol. 6,4 445-453. 12 Sep. 2019, doi:10.1016/j.ijnss.2019.09.009 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6838998/#:~:text=Oxytocin%2C%20often%20called%20the%20'hormone,nurturing%20and%20resulting%20social%20bonding. 

accessed March 21st 2024

Steenhoff, Tine et al. “Mothers' and fathers' observed interaction with preschoolers: Similarities and differences in parenting behavior in a well-resourced sample.” PloS one vol. 14,8 e0221661. 22 Aug. 2019, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221661 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6705848/accessed  March 21st 2024

“Bill C-26 (S.C. 2012 c. 9) - Reforms to Self-Defence and Defence of Property: Technical Guide for Practitioners” Section:34(1) https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/rsddp-rlddp/p5.html Accessed 21st March 2024