Murder and the Family How

Murder and the Family

How Does Murder Affect the Family

Homicide is described as causing intentional harm to another resulting in their death (Miller, 2008). Family survivors of murder victims suffer a significant loss and are often overlooked when we think of victims. Family members of murder victims deal with unique challenges, not only are they suffering the emotional loss of a loved one, but they must contend with the stigma associated with murder in society, as well as the re-victimization that can occur when dealing with the justice system (Armour, 2002). On top of psychological distress and diagnosable mental health disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, murder causes survivors to question their own mortality (Miller, 2008). It can leave them feeling anxious and unsafe in their own homes and communities. Family members of murder victims experience social isolation as their supports struggle to deal with their own feelings about the homicide. Further, the long lasting nature of the grieving process can lead survivors to feel alone when others have appeared to move on with their day-to-day living.

How Does Murder Affect the Family?

Homicide has been defined as the intentional killing of one human being by another (Armour, 2002). Murder has also been described by Miller (2008) as the most extreme violation that one human can inflict on another. Surviving family members often experience a uniquely traumatic experience compared to the experience of other types of death. When survivors of murder victims are first informed of their loss, they often experience unparallel shock and disbelief (Armour, 2002). Survivors of murder victims experience a bereavement process that is more intense, lasts longer, and is more complex than of those persons whose family members did not die in a violent manner (Horne, 2003). Unlike an accident, family members of murder victims have to deal with the abrupt reality that someone intentionally inflicted violence on their loved one (Armour, 2002). When the loved one is a family member, the murder can cause the family to struggle with concepts of fairness, justice, religion, as well as the meaning of life (Miller, 2008).

According to Horne (2003), the typical grief that occurs over the loss of a loved one is compounded by numerous internal and external factors in murders. These include fixation on the violent nature of the incident, anxiety regarding personal safety, and feelings of guilt and anger (Horne, 2003). Miller (2008) describes how family members can become obsessed with the nature of the crime, the injuries exacted on their loved one, the viciousness of the killing, and how much the victim suffered. The greater the cruelty of the crime, the more distress the family appears to demonstrate (Miller, 2008).

Survivors of murder victims have been found to have a prolonged grieving process, one that in some instances does not subside (Miller, 2008). This is due in part to the fact that they must process the vicious nature of the murder victim's death, the abrupt end to a life, as well as their anger at the perpetrator (Horne, 2003). It has been shown that parents of children who have died in a violent manner continue to suffer unrelenting thoughts of revenge, retribution, regret, reenactment, and have exhibited over reactive behavior and over protectiveness toward family members that did not subside with time (Miller, 2008). Family members often futilely question why this has happened to the victim and to their lives. The inability to understand the motivation for the crime can leave survivors feeling more emotionally distraught (Miller, 2008). These feelings have led to disruptions in several life domains such as work, marital discord, physical health, and psychological distress. Miller (2008) found that two thirds of parents whose children died in a violent manner developed a diagnosable mental disorder, oftentimes posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Family members who cannot find meaning in their loss suffer greater levels of distress. This stress may take the form of physiological alertness, anxiety, panic attacks, headaches, somatic complaints, sleep disturbances, and difficulty concentrating (Miller, 2009). Survivors often exhibit prolonged feelings of guilt and anger. Family members regularly blame themselves for the death of the victim, creating pseudo-explanations in order to give meaning to this unexplainable trauma (Miller, 2009). Self-directed anger enables the survivor to exert some control over the situation, however, oftentimes this anger is directed outwardly at the police, the justice system, and society in general (Miller, 2009).

External factors also play a significant role in the life of the survivor. Since a murder is considered a violation against the state, victim's families can be left feeling as if the needs of the justice system take priority over the needs of the family and can leave them feeling ignored (Armour, 2002). They become bystanders in their own situation and can experience feelings of loss of control. Further, interactions with the justice system appear to elicit stress reactions and negatively impact the survivor's well-being (Miranda, Molina, & MacVane, 2003). It is important to recognize the role that the justice system and social environment play in influencing the post-homicide experience of the survivor (Armour, 2002).

Isolation by family members who struggle with their own experience of the homicide further impacts the struggle that the survivors face (Horne, 2003). They often do not understand the grieving process and, therefore, do not lend adequate support to the survivor who continues to grieve for an extended period of time. It is difficult for the survivor to understand how others can go on with their daily activities when their own life appears to have come to a screeching halt (Miranda, Molina, & MacVane, 2003). Survivors can be so consumed by their emotional and physical pain that they have no energy left for anything else (Miranda, Molina & MacVane, 2003).