Addressing Filicide: Moving To Prevention Second International Conference

Following the success of the Inaugural Conference “Addressing Filicide” in 2013, the Conference Committee are proud to announce details of the second conference, to be held again in the medieval centre of Prato (near Florence) in Italy, from Wednesday 3rd June to Thursday 4th June, 2015.

The conference will build from the first and seeks the participation of researchers, policy specialists and service providers from an even more diverse range of countries and backgrounds. Recognising that filicide is not a uniform phenomenon but rather one that encompasses and overlaps with a heterogeneity of circumstances, characteristics and motives causing fatal harm to children, the conference proposes becoming the springboard for developing more sophisticated evidence bases, theoretical tools and multi-disciplinary approaches to better understand these tragic events and better align research with preventive policies and programs.

The conference will provide delegates with more structured opportunities for discussion through break-out sessions and discussion groups so we can continue to strengthen existing research collaborations and build new ones to allow for more nuanced inter-country comparisons. That will lead to the development of local and global strategies of support, intervention and prevention.

Within these frameworks we seek papers that will tackle topics as follows:

• National studies and inter-country studies
• Multi-disciplinary studies
• Differing cultural and community approaches to filicide
• Prevention and intervention models
• Explanatory Theories and Frameworks for filicide
• Impact of social policies on filicide
• Role and Impact of health, child protection and social welfare services on filicide (including GPs, psychiatrists, paediatricians, social workers, psychologists)
• Mental Health Problems, Domestic Violence, Substance Abuse, Gambling and other life stresses
• Supporting victims’ families in the aftermath
• Education of professionals
• Inter-relationship between media, community attitudes and prevention
• Working with perpetrators in Corrections and Mental Health Services

Keynote Speakers to date are:

Associate Professor Myrna Dawson, Guelph University, Canada

Professor Rebecca Dobash and Professor Russell Dobash, UK

Professor Colin Pritchard, Bournemouth University, UK

Dr Adam Tomison, CEO of the Australian Institute of Criminology, Australia