Tuesday Toot

Okay, so last week I mentioned the fact that I had a BA in Sociology, and a double minor in Juvenile Justice and Psychology.

While I can't physically post my other accomplishment here, I would like to tell you about a paper that I wrote while I was in college. The paper was actually submitted where I received recognition for it at the AMSA conference in Tuscaloosa. And now that I think about it, I totally freaked myself out because my professor bought us drinks at the hotel bar that night and I found out about a week later that I was pregnant with Gracie. Not that she has suffered any life-long damage from my strawberry daquiri or anything.

I should probably start out introducing my paper by telling you that as a young teenager, I found myself addicted to true crime novels. One of those books was called "Small Sacrifices" and it was written by Ann Rule. The book basically spins the story of this woman, Diane Downs, whose three children are shot by a bearded stranger out in the middle of nowhere. As the story unfolds, you discover that this woman shot her own children because her boyfriend did not want children.
You've probably heard other names. Susan Smith. Andrea Yates. You might not know there is also a man who was in the service who back in the 1970s shot his two young daughters and his pregnant wife, claiming a band of hippies broke into their home and did it.

There might also be other names you've heard. Remember Melissa Drexler AKA "Prom Mom"? Being a mother now, back then I was absolutely fascinated and at the same time simply stunned that women could give birth to these children and then kill them so maliciously.

On to my Tuesday Toot, which is my paper. It was entitled "When the Bough Breaks: Studying the Differences in Maternal Filicide". It basically took a look at the differences in mothers who kill their children. I looked at older mothers like Susan Smith, but focused mainly on Andrea Yates as the older mother group. Then I looked at younger mothers like Melissa Drexler, mothers who hid the pregnancy and didn't bond with the baby.
I also explored countries like China, where mothers who kill/abandon their children there is basically part of the cultural norm (China has/had a "one child per family" law where if they didn't have a boy, it was somewhat socially acceptable to get rid of the girl, abandon her, etc.).

While I won't send a copy of my paper to every single person who asks, I would be glad to share it with those of you who know me fairly well. It may not be the best paper in the world, but before I had my child it was my little baby. I enjoyed working on it and uncovering the information I did. Being a mother now and knowing what I know from my research, this act of crime is still just as upsetting and maliciously, sometimes even more so than it was.

Anyway, I was proud of myself for submitting it for the conference and at least getting recognition for it. And I think I did a good job writing it too!