NCJ Number
179486
Date Published
1998
Length
378 pages
Annotation
This volume describes the collective responses of bereaved people to the aftermath of homicide, with emphasis on the development and organization of Support After Murder and Manslaughter (SAMM) and other self-help and advocacy groups that have emerged in England and Wales.
Abstract
The text examines the criminology and victimology of homicide in England and Wales, the nature of brief and bereavement after violent death, and the emergence of the new organizations. It then explains how what criminologists and practitioners have tended to dismiss as a statistically small, contained, and morally equivocal problem is regarded by many of those most intimately affected as a cataclysmic event that throws their lives into utter disorder. Homicide can lead to a fervid quest for control and understanding; to a new moral economy; to a new experience of time and risk; and a consuming urge to restore order through social and political action. That reasoning led to the creation of self-help and advocacy organizations in the 1980's and 1990's. The actions of other institutions and the survivors' reactions to those actions affected what was accomplished. SAMM was begun as Parents of Murdered Children with another organization, The Compassionate Friends. Around that center were a number of vigorous groups that pressed in on SAMM, pointed to alternative futures, and affected its course. The most active of these groups was Justice for Victims. The analysis considers the internal tensions and conflicts in these organizations, makes comparisons with approaches in North America, and concludes that SAMM will remain a source of great comfort to the bereaved and will work with Victim Support so that families can receive practical assistance. With other organizations SAMM will continue to give advice and training to those in and about the criminal justice system and may also help bring about improved information and services to secondary victims. Figures and footnotes