THE SUSAN SMITH CASE: A SOCIAL SERVICES PERSPECTIVE

The behavior of Susan Smith in Union, South Carolina in October 1994 during which she confesses to having killed her two children is problably the most talked about case in the United States in the Fall of 1994 (Fox, Munro, and Perry, 1994, pp. 1A, 12A). This research reviews the Susan Smith case from a social services perspective. The emphasis in this research is not upon the grim details of what transpired, but rather focuses on social services concepts, programs, and experience that might provide insights into why such behavior occurred, and may point to actions that could have precluded the outcomes of the Susan Smith case.

This research considers the Susan Smith case from three social service perspectives. First, a consideration is given to the ways in which the actions of state child protective services might have prevented Susan Smith's behaviors that led to death of her two children. Second, macro sociological data is reviewed with an end of placing Susan Smith's actions within the context of national trends. Third, other governmental social services that might have contributed to a positive change in the outcome of this case are reviewed.

The demands placed upon human services personnel generally and upon child welfare personnel specifically in American society in the 1990s are far more complex and difficult than were those placed on these personnel a decade earlier.

. . .
t prepared to assume parental responsibilities in relation to her children. Susan Smith, thus, in a warped sense of reasoning identified Michael and Alex as the parties who were denying her what she wanted. According to her confession, Susan Smith said that she had decided that the solution to the problem was suicide for herself and the murder of her two children. The children were to be killed according to this warped reasoning because they would not have been happy and well cared for in the absence of their mother. Susan Smith is certainly not the first person to apply such a rationalization to a decision to kill a member of their nuclear family for whom they professed great love and affection. Fortunately, such behavior is relatively rare. Many people are attempting to protray Susan Smith's behavior as a form of child abuse. The perpetrators of child abuse in the United States are typically (50 percent) those adults who are closest to the child (Ginsberg, 1992, pp. 29-36). In approximately 30 percent of the cases, the abuser is the mother, while the father is the abuser in about 20 percent of the cases, and the remaining 50 percent of cases of abuse are perpetrated by a variety of persons, such as baby-sitters, boy frie
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Approximate Word count = 2082
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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