ABSTRACT
Society attaches a stigma to murder, leaving the homicide survivor victimized. Family, friends, co-workers, the criminal justice system, perpetrator, media, investigators, and the religious community vic timize the homicide survivor on a personal and social level. Family, friends, and co-workers victimize the homicide survivor by their insen sitive comments and unrealistic expectations of “recovery. ” Society perpetuates an expectation of returning to normal or to the way things were after a short period of mourning. This expectation is written in grief literature, self-help books, and advocated by some grief counselors and therapists. The criminal justice system victimizes the homicide survivor repeatedly with each pretrial, trial, sentencing, motions, and appeal hearings. If more than one perpetrator is involved, the series of trials, hearings, and appeals is repeated for each perpetrator. Even with the right to a speedy trial, it is not unusual for a murder case to take two years to get to trial. The perpetrator victimizes the homicide survivor first by taking the loved one’s life then by the repeated contact with the homicide survivor through the criminal justice system. Even after the trial, the homicide survivor is victimized each time the perpetrator files for an appeal, leniency, clemency, and/or comes up for parole. If the perpetrator(s) is released from prison, the homicide survivor, and his or her family, become victimized again because of the uncertainty of the perpetrator, by not knowing if the perpetrator will seek revenge toward the homicide survivor or his or her family members. The media also victimizes the homicide survivor. Murders, particularly murders involving children, are generally sensationalized, often at the expense of the homicide survivor. Often without warning, articles are printed on the front page of the newspaper or announced on the television explaining in graphic detail the brutality of the murder. Movies made without the consent of the homicide survivors often change the circum stances surrounding the murder. In many instances the movie places blame on the victim or his or her family. The homicide survivors are
helpless to set the record straight or clear their loved one’s name and reputation. Strangers actually make money from the murder of the homicide survivor’s loved one. The religious community victimizes the homicide survivor by insisting on forgiveness. By forgiving the perpetrator, the religious community and many grief counselor and therapists believe the homicide survivor can “recover” or return to “normal” after his or her loved one has been murdered.
