Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

appalachiablue

(41,056 posts)
Mon Mar 11, 2019, 01:47 AM Mar 2019

The Psychology of Family Annihilators, What Drives a Man to Kill His Own Family?

Rolling Stone, March 10, 2019. -EXCERPTS:- Last year, Chris Watts, a 33-year-old Colorado man, murdered his pregnant wife Shannan and two daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste, and buried their bodies in an oil work site.

...Now, new details have emerged regarding the Watts case. First, Watts gave an interview to police from a Wisconsin prison on Feb. 18, reportedly after finding religion while incarcerated. Then, Steven Lambert, the attorney for Shannan Watts’ family, went on Dr. Phil to talk about what Watts had said. During the TV interview, Lambert said that Watts strangled his wife after revealing to her that he was having an affair with a coworker and wanted a divorce. (The coworker, Nichol Kessinger, 30, has claimed that Watts told her he was in the process of divorcing his wife and that they were separated.) “And she had said something to the effect of, ‘Well, you’re not gonna see the kids again.’ As a consequence of that conversation, he strangled her to death,” Lambert said on the show.

Lambert also revealed that Watts’ 4-year-old daughter, Bella, saw Watts preparing to move Shannan’s body “and what he said was that, ‘Mommy is sick, we need to take her to the hospital to make her better.'” Watts then took the girls into his truck and smothered them before burying them in an oil drum.

RELATED VIDEO: Chris Watts`daughter knew her mother and sister were dead. She pleaded for her life, attorney says

What is family annihilation? Family annihilators is a term used to describe men (mostly white males in their 30s) who murder their entire families. The technical term is “familicide, which basically refers to the killing of one’s partner or spouse and one or the more of the children, [often] followed by the suicide of the perpetrator,” explains Dr. Neil Websdale.. Often, family annihilation cases are prompted by an inciting incident, such as a job loss, says Dr. N. G. Berrill. Family annihilation cases tend to fall on something of a “continuum. Some cases involve very violent, controlling batterers who are misogynistic, who engage in lots of acts of domestic violence up to the time of the killing. At the other end of the continuum — which is really about the ability to regulate or repress anger — you’re looking at more controlled, repressed, depressed individuals who may be on the edge of a psychotic break.”

Watts’s case is somewhat unique. For starters, there is no evidence that he tried to take his own life after killing his family, as most family annihilators do. “The person who does it feels like they’re sparing their family from eminent financial harm or ruin or embarrassment, so they kill their family and themselves,” Berrill says.

Mere hours after their disappearance was reported, Watts appeared on local TV to plead for their safe return, and his web history reveals that he was happily planning a relationship with his new girlfriend, Googling jewelry and secluded weekend getaways. Websdale believes this behavior may have stemmed from Watts’ belief that he could get away with the murders. “I think the fact that he didn’t commit suicide…may speak to this aggressive, narcissistic kind of personality, which says that he thinks he may be able to get away with this,” he says. “It speaks to the fact that he’s very very much self-centered and [felt] entitled to do these things.”. .

More, http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/what-drives-a-man-to-kill-his-own-family-inside-the-psychology-of-family-annihilators/ar-BBUsReL?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The Psychology of Family Annihilators, What Drives a Man to Kill His Own Family? (Original Post) appalachiablue Mar 2019 OP
Entitlement is a Piece of this Hideous Pathology dlk Mar 2019 #1
I'm guessing he will be dead within a year Submariner Mar 2019 #2
That's for sure. Aristus Mar 2019 #4
i'm not seeing watts as a "typical" anihilator; they suicide at the time, the end. rampartc Mar 2019 #3
Atypical, the self matters above all. Narcissist w psychopathic traits IMO. appalachiablue Mar 2019 #5

Submariner

(12,485 posts)
2. I'm guessing he will be dead within a year
Mon Mar 11, 2019, 06:06 AM
Mar 2019

if he is placed in general population in prison. Inmates don’t take kindly to child killers within their ranks.

Aristus

(66,099 posts)
4. That's for sure.
Mon Mar 11, 2019, 11:59 AM
Mar 2019

People don't seem to be aware of how many guys in prison are fathers. They don't take kindly to child murderers...

rampartc

(5,271 posts)
3. i'm not seeing watts as a "typical" anihilator; they suicide at the time, the end.
Mon Mar 11, 2019, 07:08 AM
Mar 2019

watts imagined he was clearing the slate for a new life with his new girl friend, unencumbered by memort of hos previous family. did he think that his new love would not be curious what happened to his old family?

either way it is "all about him." the opinion of the women and children are just not important to the cold blooded killer.

appalachiablue

(41,056 posts)
5. Atypical, the self matters above all. Narcissist w psychopathic traits IMO.
Mon Mar 11, 2019, 03:09 PM
Mar 2019

Last edited Mon Mar 11, 2019, 03:43 PM - Edit history (1)

There must be more education and awareness of these highly dangerous types that often fly under the radar disguised by high intelligence, good careers, family relations and more. And cold blooded is correct..

There's a ton of material about this case online, and audio of interviews in which he sounds normal, calm, even a bit lame. I rarely follow these type stories, for good reason.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»The Psychology of Family ...