This paper examines the profound and lasting impact that homicide has on the surviving family members of murder victims. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature, it explores how survivors face a uniquely complex bereavement process marked by intense grief, prolonged psychological distress, and diagnosable mental health conditions such as PTSD. The paper addresses internal factors — including obsession with the violent nature of the crime, guilt, and self-directed anger — as well as external stressors such as re-victimization by the justice system, social isolation, and media stigma. Together, these forces compound survivors' suffering and fundamentally alter their sense of safety, identity, and place in the world.
Homicide is described as causing intentional harm to another person resulting in their death (Miller, 2008). Family survivors of murder victims suffer a significant loss and are often overlooked when we consider who the true victims are. Family members of murder victims face unique challenges: not only are they suffering the emotional loss of a loved one, but they must also contend with the stigma associated with murder in society, as well as the re-victimization that can occur through interactions with the justice system (Armour, 2002). On top of psychological distress and diagnosable mental health disorders — such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — 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 also experience social isolation as their support networks struggle to process their own feelings about the homicide. Further, the long-lasting nature of the grieving process can lead survivors to feel alone as others appear to move on with their day-to-day lives.
Homicide has been defined as the intentional killing of one human being by another (Armour, 2002). It has also been described by Miller (2008) as the most extreme violation that one human being can inflict upon another. Surviving family members often undergo a uniquely traumatic experience compared to those who lose loved ones in other ways. When survivors of murder victims are first informed of their loss, they frequently experience unparalleled shock and disbelief (Armour, 2002). Survivors of murder victims endure a bereavement process that is more intense, lasts longer, and is more complex than that of people whose family members did not die violently (Horne, 2003).
Unlike an accident, family members of murder victims must confront the abrupt reality that someone intentionally inflicted violence on their loved one (Armour, 2002). When the victim is a family member, the murder can cause the family to struggle with concepts of fairness, justice, religion, and the meaning of life itself (Miller, 2008). According to grief researchers, this kind of traumatic bereavement disrupts virtually every domain of functioning, making it qualitatively different from the loss that follows a natural or accidental death.
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 the wake of a murder. These include fixation on the violent nature of the incident, anxiety regarding personal safety, and feelings of guilt and anger. Miller (2008) describes how family members can become obsessed with the details of the crime — the injuries inflicted 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 tends to demonstrate (Miller, 2008).
Survivors of murder victims have been found to experience a prolonged grieving process, one that in some instances does not subside (Miller, 2008). This is due in part to the need to process the violent nature of the victim's death, the abrupt end to a life, and the intense anger directed at the perpetrator (Horne, 2003). Research has shown that parents of children who died violently continue to suffer unrelenting thoughts of revenge, retribution, and regret, and have exhibited over-reactive behavior and over-protectiveness toward surviving family members — responses that did not diminish over time (Miller, 2008). Family members often futilely question why the murder happened, and the inability to understand the motivation for the crime can leave survivors feeling more emotionally distraught (Miller, 2008). These feelings have led to disruptions across several life domains, including work performance, marital relationships, physical health, and psychological well-being. Miller (2008) found that two-thirds of parents whose children died violently developed a diagnosable mental disorder, most often post-traumatic stress disorder.
"Guilt, self-blame, anxiety, and somatic distress"
"Re-victimization, social isolation, and media stigma"
Miller, L. (2009). Family survivors of homicide: II. Practical therapeutic strategies. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 37(2), 85–98.
Miller, L. (2008). Death notification for families of homicide victims: Healing dimensions of a complex process. Omega, 57(4), 367–380.
Miranda, A. O., Molina, C., & MacVane, S. L. (2003). Coping with the murder of a loved one: Counseling survivors of murder victims in groups. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 28(1), 48–63.
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