Lindsay and Patrick Clancy with their children Cora, 6, Dawson, 3 and Callan, 8 months. The picture, taken in the fall of 2022. Provided By Plymouth Superior Court.

On Jan. 24, 2023, in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Lindsay Clancy, a wife, mother of three, and labor and delivery nurse, strangled her three children. Cora was five, Dawson was three, and Callan was eight months old.

The children were found dead in the basement of their home while their father, Patrick Clancy, was out running errands and picking up dinner. When he returned home, he found his children in the basement and Lindsay outside after she had jumped from a second-story window. She suffered serious injuries from the fall that left her paralyzed from the waist down.

Lindsay had been struggling with suicidal thoughts before the incident and had received professional help. Lindsay’s mental health struggles and the fact that she was seeking help are important when looking at what may have led to her actions. Because of this, the psychological perspective of criminological theory fits her case.

The psychological perspective focuses on the individual and how their mental health, personality, and thoughts can affect their behaviour. This theory examines how problems within a person’s mind can sometimes lead to inappropriate or criminal behavior. Psychopathology is the study of mental illness and other unhealthy mental conditions. This perspective fits Lindsay Clancy’s case because so much of what happened involved her mental health and what she was going through before the crime.

After Lindsay gave birth to her third child, Callan, on May 26, 2022, her mental health problems became increasingly serious over the following months. In Sept. 2022, she began experiencing significant anxiety, including anxiety about returning to work. She saw a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.

Between Oct. 2022 and Jan. 2023, she was prescribed multiple psychiatric medications for issues including anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Her husband expressed concerns that her medications were not helping her and that she was experiencing serious side effects and withdrawal symptoms.

By late Dec. 2022, she had begun having suicidal thoughts, according to testimony presented during the case. She had also expressed thoughts about harming her children. In Jan. 2023, shortly before the children died, Lindsay voluntarily admitted herself to McLean Hospital for psychiatric treatment and was discharged four days later. Her psychiatrist testified that she did not appear to be a danger to herself or others when she was discharged.

During the investigation, investigators found searches on Lindsay’s phone for postpartum psychosis and psychosis symptoms, dated Jan. 19. Five days later, on Jan. 24, she killed her three children and attempted suicide.

Lindsay later reported that she remembered hearing a male voice telling her to kill the children and herself. However, whether Lindsay was actually experiencing postpartum psychosis at the time of the crime remained disputed, making it important to distinguish between her documented mental health struggles and the defense’s explanation for her actions.

These circumstances connect to the psychological perspective because psychopathology looks at how mental illness can affect a person’s thoughts and behavior. Lindsay was dealing with a lot of different mental health problems at the same time, including anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and problems sleeping. She was also trying to get help and had been in a psychiatric hospital only a few weeks before the children died.

The defense argued that she was experiencing postpartum psychosis and that this affected her actions, but this was disputed during the trial. Her psychiatrist at McLean testified that she did not show signs of psychosis while she was there. Looking at the case through the psychological perspective makes it possible to look at all of these mental health issues as possible factors that contributed to what happened without saying that they excuse her actions.

The psychological perspective fits Lindsay Clancy’s case the best because of how much her mental health had changed before the crime. She was clearly struggling and was trying to get help, which makes her mental state an important part of understanding what may have contributed to her actions.