It is October 25, 1994, late at night, in a small southern town. The town is typical of many in South Carolina. Life is hard. The average family...

Answer at least 4 of the following questions:

Susan violated what most people consider our most sacred trust when she killed her children. How could she have done it? Develop a profile of a woman who might kill her own children. Online, find the FBI’s profile of women who kill their own children. Compare your profile with the FBI’s profile.

Discuss potential effects that sexual abuse can have on a young woman. How might Susan’s experiences with her stepfather have affected her behavior?

Discuss possible pressures on a young couple that marries in their teens, especially under the circumstances of David and Susan’s marriage.

Identify nonverbal cues that Susan gave. Discuss how it is possible to tell if someone if lying from nonverbal behavior. What information does the use of the polygraph supply?

Speculate on why Susan might have done what she did. Include speculations about her marriage as well as her own childhood and adolescence.

Susan wanted relief from loneliness and the problems in her life. She wanted to commit suicide but did not want her sons to suffer as she had after her father’s suicide. She believed that if she killed her sons first and then committed suicide, her sons would suffer less than if she left them on their own. She felt burdened and was overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being a single mother. What role might depression have played in her actions?

Classify Susan according to the DSM IV-TR categories. What would the upcoming DSM V say?

Why didn’t her attorneys use the mental illness defense?