911 calls reporting the mysterious disappearance of a child may contain information critical to law enforcement. If this information is untruthful, valuable resources can be misdirected and precious time may be lost. Therefore, the current study examined verbal cues of veracity and deception in 911 calls placed by caregivers of missing children.…

Recent research indicates that children with autism are at increased risk of maltreatment. We examined news media reports on homicide incidents involving children with autism as victims in the United States between 2000 and 2019. Of the 52 victims studied, 47 (90.4%) were male. Age of victims ranged from 2 to 20 years (mean = 10.4 ± 5.3 years).…

Growing up in socioeconomic disadvantage increases risk of peer bullying at school. Both socioeconomic status and involvement in bullying are predictive of a range of adverse developmental outcomes. However, neither (a) the mechanisms whereby disadvantage increases bullying risk nor (b) the developmental outcomes for which bullying may mediate…

This article examines the killing of three teenage boys at the U.S.-Mexico border between 2010 and 2013. Through an examination of these murders at the hands of U.S. Border Patrol and Customs and Border Enforcement agents, the article argues that the murders of Sergio Adrían Hernández Guereca, José Antonio Elena Rodríguez and Cruz Marcelino…

Given the tragedy of war and genocide, words often cannot adequately capture the complexity of war-related experiences. Researchers are increasingly utilizing the arts to enable multiple forms of expression, as well as for its therapeutic and empowering qualities. This paper outlines the use of the "river of life," an arts-based…

The health and well-being of young people remains a critical issue. For Indigenous girls and young women in Canada and South Africa, the situation is exacerbated by high rates of sexual violence. The article draws on examples of artworks and close readings of several images of resistance produced by Indigenous girls and young women participating…

The 1994 Rwandan Genocide murdered over a million and brought on incalculable distress to survivors. An non-governmental organisation, "Network for Africa," has a music programme to rehabilitate orphans in Kigali, now entering adulthood. This naturalistic study investigated whether music had transformational meaning for participants.…

The encounter with literature of the Holocaust, saturated as it is with unfathomable grief, loss, terror, and death, presents its readers with difficulties rare in literatures not dealing with the extreme. Specifically, usual academic discourse lacks a register for addressing the intense emotions that Holocaust narratives or poetry may generate.…

This study examined patterns of making meaning among 155 parents whose children died from a variety of violent and non-violent causes. Findings indicated 53% of violent loss survivors could not make sense of their loss, as compared to 32% of non-violent loss survivors. Overall, there was overlap in sense-making strategies across different causes…

This timely book provides current research and skill-building information on Disaster Mental Health Counseling for counselors, educators, students, and mental health responders in agencies, schools, universities, and private practice. Recognized experts in the field detail effective clinical interventions with survivors in the immediate,…

In this article, Mark Freado and Howard Bath present the case of an 11 year boy who had been arrested and charged with the murder of his two-year-old cousin. Because of the severity of the criminal charge against this boy, and despite his age, a transfer hearing was set to determine whether he would be tried as a juvenile or an adult. Such…

Objective: This study described the epidemiology of child abuse homicides in the state of Kansas from 1994 to 2007. It focused on obtaining significant details on all recorded child abuse homicides in Kansas during this time frame to provide critical information that can be used for future preventive measures. Methods: A retrospective case review…

Objectives: This research aimed to identify incidents of mothers in Italy killing their own children and to test an adaptive evolutionary hypothesis to explain their occurrence. Methods: 110 cases of mothers killing 123 of their own offspring from 1976 to 2010 were analyzed. Each case was classified using 13 dichotomic variables. Descriptive…

The authors investigated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in Japanese bereaved family members using a questionnaire. Participants were bereaved as a result of suicide and homicide (n = 51 and 49, respectively), with natural death (n = 56) as a control; and their relationships to the deceased were parent-child (n = 79), conjugal (n =…

This article considers the stigmatized deaths in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978, in which more than 900 Americans died of mass murder and suicide, and how this led to the disenfranchisement of grief. It examines the rituals of exclusion by which bodies were handled and describes the experiences of Jonestown survivors. It then looks at the ways in…