Survivors of Homicide Victims: Factors that Influence their Well-Being

Abstract

Although survivors of homicide victims are recognized as a distinct bereaved population, little attention has been given to concepts of posthomicide wellness and the conditions that advance survivors' healing. This article examines the well-being of survivors through interviews and focus groups with survivors and victim assistance providers. Data were analyzed using a combination of template analysis and grounded theory, qualitative approaches that serve to broaden existing theory and prior research about homicide bereavement so that survivors' functioning can be assessed outside of theory built principally on death due to natural causes or through the lens of complicated bereavement. Findings include eight dimensions of well-being: (a) movement/intentionality, (b) stagnation, (c) reckonings, (d) injustice, (e) factors in the criminal justice system that help or hinder, (f) the role of time, (g) faith, and (h) family and friends. Findings suggest that posthomicide well-being is associated with cognitive and emotional movement in a forward direction. Discussion centers on the prevention of or reduction in barriers that block survivors' movement.

Notes

¹Other studies refer to these individuals as survivors, connoting their ability to weather the horror of murder. Other studies refer to them as victim-survivors or as co-victims to convey that their status is commensurate with being a direct victim of crime.

²Data were collected from anonymous written responses to survey questions. Although the data were not generated through interaction with the researcher or focus group members, the application of symbolic interactionism to these data remains relevant because the data derive from homicide, which as a public event engages survivors with social institutions, e.g., media, criminal justice system; the survey questions focused, in part, on survivors' experiences with these institutions; and the data themselves reflect survivors' conversations with themselves.