Teen Mothers Who Kill

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Term Paper Title	Teen Mothers Who Kill
# of Words	2293
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	9.17

Teen Mothers Who Kill
"Teens indicted for first-degree murder in death of infant (CNN 1).  "Murder at the prom" (prom 1).  Headlines such as these two seem to becoming all to common in todays society.  Teenagers are getting pregnant, not telling anyone about it and then after a secret delivery, dispose of the baby with no more emotion than from throwing out a piece of garbage.  Everyone is saddened and shocked by the unfortunate deaths of these unnamed and unloved children, but what causes it?  What could possibly cause a mother to simply discard her child?  Is it her age? Was she from an abusive home?  Dr. Margaret G. Spinelli, director of the maternal mental health program at Psychiatric Institute, interviewed ten women charged with first or second degree murder after alleged neonaticide.  Dr. Spinilli found similar backgrounds and symptoms.  For example..
          "They all suffered childhood traumas, dissociative disorder, denial of pregnancy and long-standing mood disorder.  Family histories were notable for an abusive father, a cool, rejecting mother and a chaotic home environment (Infanticide 1).
Couldn't it be possible that these young mothers abusive childhood combined with other factors, such as denial of pregnancy, is what causes neonaticide.  I am in no way saying that these factors excuse the mothers actions.  I am simply trying to explain why these mothers did what they did.  I do not feel that these young mothers are the hard core, callus monsters the media paints them out to be.  And in the words of Steven Pinker, from his infamous essay "Why They Kill Newborns" I ask you to try and "understand what would lead a mother to kill her newborn, remembering that to understand is not necessarily to forgive" (Pinker 1).
     "Murder at the Prom" (CNN 1).  June 6,1997.  Melissa Drexler goes to her senior prom, and in the ladies room gives birth to a 6 lb. 6 oz. baby boy.  Then she throws him away.  We all have read about Melissa Drexler in the newspapers.  We read how she hid her pregnancy when she had so many other options out there for her.  There is no dought that Melissa picked the worst possible option.  The death of her innocent baby truely is a tragedy.  Unfortunly, however, no matter how much we punish Drexler for her crime, the babies life is already lost.  That being said, I ask you to look at things from a different angle.  To most people this angle is too horrible to even comprehend.  I'm sure most people feel these circumstances could never happ...

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