Fatal child abuse in Japan: Does a trend exist toward tougher sentencing?
Date
2011
Journal Title
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Publisher
Journal of injury and violence research
Abstract
It has been pointed out in Japan that criminal punishment in domestic homicide cases, especially in fatal child abuse cases, tends to be more lenient than in public homicide cases that occur outside the home. In recent news accounts of fatal child abuse cases, however, the media has reported that court-imposed sentences have tended to be stricter every year.
Methods:
Using the online databases of three major Japanese newspapers, we collected articles about fatal child abuse cases that had been published from January 2008 to December 2009. We analyzed these articles to determine, whether a tendency towards tougher penalties, as was put forward by the media, actually exists at present time in the criminal system in Japan.
Results:
We found 24 cases, out of which 20 involved only one offender and 4 involved two offenders. These 28 offenders comprised nine biological fathers, 11 biological mothers, and eight other male relatives of the child victims. We found that the sentences handed down by the court clearly tended to be more lenient for female offenders.
Description
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Keywords
Japan, International Resources, child fatality, punishment, child abuse, law, social expectations
Citation
Nambu, S., Nasu, A., Nishimura, S., Nishimura, A., & Fujiwara, S. (2011). Fatal child abuse in Japan: Does a trend exist toward tougher sentencing?. Journal of injury and violence research, 3(2), 74-79.