A current absence of neonaticide in Norway

The present study is the first attempt to explore the rate, characteristics and legal reactions to neonaticide in Norway during the years 1990 – 2009. Potential incidents of neonaticide were identified through the national homicide index held by the National Criminal Investigation Service and the national police registers for all recorded crime in Norway held by the National Police Computing and Material Services. The study uncovers that no clear incident of neonaticide has been recorded in the respective registers during the study’s time period. There was however recorded one case of a discarded stillborn and one case of an abandoned neonate that died through exposure. The paper discusses whether the study’s findings are congruent with an evolutionary psychological understanding of filicide and current knowledge of risk factors and rates for neonaticide.