Andrea Yates, Essay Example

Andrea Yates was exposed to several intimate partner violence (IPV) risk factors and risk factors for child abuse, which may have contributed to her need to commit this homicidal act against her own children. One of the primary intimate partner violence risk factors that may have contributed to this crime is dominance and control of the relationship by one partner over the other. The evident child abuse risk factors include substance abuse and/or mental health issues including depression in the family and parental characteristics such as young age, low education, single parenthood, large number of dependent children, and low income (Diagle, 2012).

The New York Times article explains that although Russell Yates, Andrea Yates’ husband, appeared to be supportive and loving in reports, Yates reported that there was some conflict between the two of them. The primary issue in the relationship between Russell Yates and Andrea Yates is that Andrea believed that her husband was too controlling over her. One of the doctors that had interviewed Andrea confirmed this in the Times article. Specifically, “Mrs. Yates said her husband allowed her two hours a week of personal time” (Yardley, 2001). This level of control indicates that many of the decisions in the marriage were likely made only by Russell. Two major factors that led to Andrea’s psychosis were the facts that she was single handedly expected to raise five children in every aspect of their lives, including their education. She felt overworked, and it is unlikely that she agreed with her husband that this is how the children should be raised. As a consequence, she felt trapped in her situation which led to a state of depression.

Since Andrea Yates had mental illness in the family, she could be considered at increased risk for child abuse. The New York Times Article reports that Andrea “faced additional stress from helping to take care of her father, who had Alzheimer’s disease” (Yardley, 2001). It is important to consider that a large number of psychological diseases are hereditary and that others can result from the stress of caring for individuals with the disease. Since it is unlikely that Andrea suffered from Alzheimer’s disease at a young age, the explanation for this is likely the latter. However, it is interesting to consider that many of Andrea’s symptoms coincide with those experienced by a patient with Alzheimer’s. These include feelings of depression, chronic stress, and psychosis.

Another child abuse risk factor is due to the fact that Andrea had a large number of dependent children and was raising them with minimal assistance from her husband. Andrea constantly informed her doctors that she felt overwhelmed with raising five children. When this information was relayed to her husband, he agreed that she needed assistance, but the particular assistance she requested wasn’t granted. Furthermore, Andrea lived under the constant concern that her family may continue to grow in size. Since Andrea’s husband wanted to have as many children as nature would allow, Andrea would have ultimately been stuck taking care of more children; a task that it seemed she did not agree with, despite her husband’s enthusiasm.

Ultimately, the controlling pressure from her husband, her father’s sickness, and her large responsibility over her children caused Andrea to commit the homicide. It is unfortunate that although there were clear warning signs throughout her psychosis, medical interventions were not able to adequately treat her condition. It is therefore imperative to detect these warning signs and consider that mental health situations could worsen if the source is not properly addressed.

References

Diagle, LE. (2012). Victimology, A Text/Reader.

Yardley J. (2001). Despair Plagued Mother Held in Children’s Deaths. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/08/us/despair-plagued-mother-held-in- children-s-deaths.html?ref=andreayates