Death of Logan Mwangi and the 'Cinderella effect'

Having watched two documentaries in the recent case of a child’s death, Logan Mwangi, I continue to question ‘why’?  This takes me back on my previous blog on child death relating to Star and Arthur.    

Logan, a five-year boy died on the 31^st July 2021 having been found in the River Ogmore, near his home in Sarn, Bridgend county.  Logan’s biological mother, stepfather and a teenage boy were found guilty of murdering Logan and dumping his body in the river.  The ordeal Logan suffered over the period leading to his death evidenced to be 56 "catastrophic" injuries, including extensive bruising to the back of his head and tears in his liver and bowel, which experts said were so severe they were consistent with those seen in road traffic accident.

On 20 July, Logan tested positive for Covid-19 and he was shut in his bedroom for 10 days with a baby gate stopping him from leaving.  During this period, it can be unimaginable the trauma Logan may have suffered whilst having no other contact from anyone except for those who should care for him.  He was beaten, starved and tortured by the very people who were supposed to care for him.  Logan was removed from the child protection register a month before he was killed.  In addition, there were serious concerns about Craig, the teenage boy and the history of violence he had established (and shared by foster parents) but was allowed to be living with Logan, just five days before Logan’s murder.  Overall, these few points continue to highlight the concerns in ‘communication’ and ‘listening’ but also using professional curiosity and reflecting on the matters to gain a better understanding in keeping children safe.    

With the many cases of abuse and death rising, relating to children, I have been curious about each case on what could be the possible reasons and get a better understanding.  Having done research in the US, according to Glen (2019), she states that child abuse is 40 times more likely to occur when single parents find new partners.  She identifies that this is due to the lack of biological connection that the stepparent has with the child, hence they do not have a relationship with them, as their primary interest is the adult partner.  This was initially highlighted by a forensic psychiatrist in 1973, P. D. Scott who summarized information on a sample of "fatal battered-baby cases" where 15 of the 29 killers, that is 52% were stepfathers.   Although initially there was no analysis of this raw data, empirical evidence has since been collected on what is now called the ‘Cinderella effect’ through official records, reports, and census.  The ‘Cinderella effect’ has been further explored and validated by Daly and Wilson (1999) who have argued that parents are less likely than surrogate parents to physically abuse or seriously injure their biological offspring due to their greater investment in the genetic continuity of their family.  But in another perspective, once children past babyhood, genetic parents are more likely to kill their children as acts of revenge against co-parents or as part of psychotic episodes, often using techniques like smothering.  Whereas, stepparents are more likely to beat or bludgeon stepchildren, which research by Dally and Wilson (1998) evidences indicate to be more due to anger and resentment.

Whilst, in a longitudinal analysis of a cohort of children at risk for child maltreatment, Radhakrishna, Bou-Saada, Hunter, Catellier, & Kotch (2001) demonstrated that the presence of a father surrogate in the home increased the risk of a maltreatment report to more than twice that of families with both biological parents in the home.  These findings have been concerning to understand the dynamics of a family context and how this could impact individuals within the family but also how they are seen or experience their life.  Having nonbiological connections within a family context could put children at risk as evolutionary psychologists believe that humans, like other animals, are programmed to want to look after children who carry their own genes, not someone else’s.  But it is important to understand that this is not in the case of all step families. 

As Burgess and Drais (1999) propose that child maltreatment is too complex to be explained fully by genetic relatedness alone and cite other reasons for child maltreatment, such as social factors, ecological factors and child traits such as disability and age (consider Bronfenbrenner theory, 1979). However, they also note that these traits are simply indicative, and do not inevitably lead to child maltreatment.  A Swedish study by Temrin and colleagues (2000) also suggest that there may be other factors involved with child homicide, such as prior convictions, drug abuse problems, lost custody battles and mental health problems.  In the Swedish sample, in two out of the seven homicides with a genetic and non-genetic parent, the offender was actually the genetic parent and thus these homicides do not support Daly and Wilson's (1999, 2005) definition of the Cinderella effect.  But, as stated by consultant clinical child psychologist Emma Citron, she stresses that parents need to be more alert to the early signs of abuse, as well as any indication a new partner is threatened by the child.  With this, I stress that professionals and services need to be vigilant of these circumstances to make an informed decision on how to support families looking at their own individual needs and not generalising the support they offer.  Emma, identified that there are thousands of children that are being psychologically and physically abused every day.  But it takes the deaths of little children to bring this sort of treatment to people’s attention.  For every Arthur, Star and Logan, there are 500 kids who may not die at the hands of their stepparents but won’t ever get over the psychological damage and may end up having this embedded in their lifetime affecting many aspects of their daily life.  Therefore, it is essential that children are still allowed to spend plenty of time with grandparents or members of the extended family, who may be better able to spot red flags, like signs of physical abuse or changes in behaviour.

With this, it is important to understand the complexity of safeguarding children where the ‘Cinderella Effect’ should not be taken as an indicator that all step parents are abusive. While there is a statistical link between step families and abuse of children, particularly step children, this does not mean step parents are inherently dangerous to the children in their lives. Many raise children in loving, supportive households very successfully. What the Cinderella Effect does indicate is the need for appropriate intervention in a step family where the parents are having arguments about the children, particularly surrounding issues like discipline and considering the wider context of concerns as mentioned that need to be assessed and reviewed before any outcomes are suggested.  This is supported by Tooley et al (2006) highlighting that the ‘Cinderella effect’ concept, generalises to cases of unintentional childhood fatal injury, but further research is required whilst also to examine the role of situational factors associated with single- and step-family dynamics. Although, interventions such as awareness/education programs targeted specifically at step and blended families may contribute to reducing the harm associated with the most prevalent yet preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in childhood. 

I strongly state this, also highlighting the importance of communicating with all the relevant people in the child’s life but also listening to them and reflecting to the situation through good professional judgements.  The child does not live in isolation but has many aspects that affects them including family, friends, social context, policy, government and many more.  Therefore, any decision made within these contexts leads to a direct impact on the child.  It is those decisions that lead to life or death of an innocent child. 

"Think from your heart, not from your mind.  The heart feels, the mind manipulates"

Bina

A Boy Betrayed - BBC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00195gq

The murder of Logan Mwangi – ITV

https://www.itv.com/hub/the-murder-of-logan-mwangi/10a2422a0001

References

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press.

Burgess, R.L. and Drais, A.A. (1999) Beyond the “Cinderella effect”. Human Nature, 10(4), pp.373-398.

Daly, M., & Wilson, M. (1999). The evolutionary social psychology of family violence. In C. Crawford, & D. L. Kreb (Eds.), Handbook of evolutionary psychology (pp. 431-456). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Daly, M. and Wilson, M. (2005) The “cinderella effect”: Elevated mistreatment of stepchildren in comparison to those living with genetic parents. Unpublished manuscript. Retrieved from http://www. psych. ucsb. edu/research/cep/buller/cinderella% 20effect% 20facts. pdf.

Glen, W, A (2019) Child abuse is 40 times more likely when single parents find new partners (online) URL: https://www.phillyvoice.com/staff-contributors/amy-wright-glenn/ (Accessed 4^th July 2022)

Tooley, G.A., Karakis, M., Stokes, M. and Ozanne-Smith, J. (2006) Generalising the Cinderella Effect to unintentional childhood fatalities. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27(3), pp.224-230.

Radhakrishna, A., Bou-Saada, I.E., Hunter, W.M., Catellier, D.J. and Kotch, J.B. (2001) Are father surrogates a risk factor for child maltreatment?. Child maltreatment, 6(4), pp.281-289.

Temrin, H.; Buchmayer, S.; Enquist, M. (2000). "Step-parents and infanticide: New data contradict evolutionary predictions". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 267 (1446): 943–945. doi:10.1098/rspb.2000.1094. PMC 1690621. PMID 10853739.