Left Behind: Working with Families of Homicide Victims.

• Author: Patrick, Wendy L.

WHEN DEALING WITH VICTIMS of domestic violence, human trafficking, or sexual assault, we often talk about turning victims into survivors. Yet homicide victims leave literal survivors. The surviving family members of homicide victims suffer differently than surviving victims themselves, and are often in desperate need of services. Accordingly, handling a homicide case involves not only prosecuting the offender to the full extent of the law, but also achieving justice for the victim in a fashion that includes attending to the needs of those he or she left behind.

Family members and close friends of homicide victims are often severely traumatized. Darren Thiel, in a 2016 article-entitled "Moral Truth and Compounded Trauma: The Effects of Acquittal of Homicide Defendants on the Families of Victims," cites previous research in recognizing that the grief of these suffering families is often more complicated and acute than those who lose a loved one to non-homicidal death--and that this finding is particularly true for parents of the victim.

In a 2014 study, "The Experiences of Homicide Victims' Families With the Criminal Justice System: An Exploratory Study," Christine Englebrecht and her colleagues noted there has been surprisingly little research done on how these people are affected by the loss of their loved ones. They noted that research that has been done has found that for many of those who are left behind, their impression of the criminal justice system is colored by their interaction with law enforcement.

IN A CLIMATE OF HOSTILITY, VICTIM FAMILY MEMBERS CALM THE STORM

Over the last several years, the law enforcement community has experienced social climate change fostering a culture of negativity. Due to highly publicized cases of officer involved shootings, in-custody deaths, and other incidents where civilians have clashed with law enforcement, public perception has fostered antagonism toward police, prosecutors, and in some cases, anyone connected with enforcing our laws.

The climate of hostility promotes violent protests, divisive rhetoric, and encourages civil disobedience. Selective footage of law enforcement contacts is often memorialized on cell phones, with the video going viral immediately for all the world to see, without the benefit of legal and evidentiary rules of admissibility.

In some cases, some of the loudest voices of protest during the criminal justice process are the family members of the homicide victims who have...