Source: (2009) Law and Contemporary Problems. 72(2):1-26.
For the families of murder victims, the grief, anger, and pain a murder
leaves in its wake must to some degree unfold in public, institutional settings.
Grieving is rarely an entirely private, internal experience. In every culture, grief
is experienced and expressed against a background of social expectations and,
ideally, within a network of social support. The expectations facing murder
survivors1 include the grim task of cooperating with the criminal justice system,
a task that may include a public trial and intense media scrutiny. Over the last
couple of decades, this grim task has undergone a “symbolic transformation,â€2
particularly in the death penalty context. Every aspect of the capital system has
been recast as serving therapeutic goals—specifically, helping survivors heal
and attain closure. This incursion of the language of emotion and healing into
the legal realm has been insufficiently examined, especially given its enormous
practical and symbolic consequences for the operation of the death penalty.(excerpt)
Your donation helps Prison Fellowship International repair the harm caused by crime by emphasizing accountability, forgiveness, and making amends for prisoners and those affected by their actions. When victims, offenders, and community members meet to decide how to do that, the results are transformational.
Donate Now