[In-Depth Look] 'Gajeong-ui Dal 5wol' Losing Its Meaning Due to Heinous Crimes

Professor Kim Do-woo, Department of Police Science, College of Law, Gyeongnam National University

May is the month of family, with commemorative days such as Children's Day, Parents' Day, and Couples' Day. However, the term "month of family" seems ironic as crimes of filial impiety targeting family members are on the rise. Children kill elderly parents for not giving them allowance, daughters-in-law threaten and assault mothers-in-law with weapons due to husbands' infidelity, boyfriends violently assault girlfriends for talking back, ex-husbands visiting their sons are brutally murdered, and foster parents kill their 4-year-old child who has just started walking for not obeying them?these unspeakably horrific crimes of filial impiety frequently occur in our society.

Legally recognized crimes of filial impiety are limited to violent criminal acts against ascendants that are not socially acceptable, such as killing, injuring, or assaulting ascendants. However, socially, acts such as severe abuse or sexual assault by parents against children?filial impiety committed by ascendants against descendants?are also included as crimes of filial impiety. Furthermore, if the scope of filial impiety crimes is expanded to include violent criminal acts against members who should be mutually respected and protected, such as spouses and romantic partners, as in the cases mentioned above, the level of filial impiety crimes in our society can be considered very serious.

The main reason for the increase in crimes of filial impiety within families lies in the weakening of family community bonds emphasized in traditional values due to social structural changes such as nuclear families and the rise of single-person households. In other words, as basic ethics and values that connect families, such as solidarity and bonds, disappear, the social atmosphere increasingly treats "families bound by blood" as "strangers," eventually leading to crimes of filial impiety.

The seriousness of crimes of filial impiety within families lies in their higher likelihood of occurrence compared to other serious crimes. Despite social structural changes, families frequently encounter each other during holidays and family events due to prevailing values, even if their bonds are weakened. In some cases, husbands and wives or parents and children live together in the same household. Routine activity theory states that the likelihood of crime (victimization) increases as the frequency and duration of encounters between offenders and victims within the same living area increase. In this sense, family members living together in a shared residence without trust or affection are the most frightening entities, as they can become either perpetrators or victims at any time.

Despite the severity, fundamental measures to prevent crimes of filial impiety within families remain insufficient. This stems from the limitation that our society views crimes of filial impiety solely as immoral and irrational acts of individuals and has prepared countermeasures accordingly. Most crimes of filial impiety do not occur impulsively but emerge after a considerable period of accumulated minor illegal acts among family members. In traditional family structures, minor illegal acts could be controlled within the family. However, when family control functions do not operate properly as they do now, the state must intervene and control instead. In other words, crimes of filial impiety should no longer be regarded as individual problems but recognized as social pathological phenomena stemming from family function collapse, requiring a shift in perception and government-wide intervention to restore family functions.