For most Americans, the risk of being murdered is much greater in their own homes than on the street. Nearly half of homicide victims are related to or acquainted with their killers. Using a case study approach, the book explores the social, cultural and psychological forces that lead people to kill members of their own families. It also suggests measures to halt the steady pace of murder within families. The book is presented in the following chapters: (1) All in the Family; (2) Batterers Who Kill; (3) Battered Women Who Kill; (4) Munchausen Mothers; (5) Postpartum Homicides; (6) Disappearing, Disposable Babies; (7) Child Abuse Fatalities; (8) Parricide; (9) Fratricide and Sororicide; (10) Familicide; (11) Mercy Killings; and (12) Preventing Family Homicide. Tables, references, notes, indexes