Impacts of Homicide

Posted by Winnie Melda on October 16th, 2018

 Due to its nature, homicide is a unique type of crime that gets associated with various special needs and responses among the surviving family members. The survivors face unexpected financial constraints in which they must cater for the funeral, medical and psychiatric expenses thus causing distress among the members. The criminal justice system contributes to the stress as the survivors must cope with body bags, autopsies, crime scene pictures and other stressors inherent in the homicide trial. So as to assist the survivors cope with the situation and reduce the distress, the victim’s service provider must acquire accurate information concerning the killing from the relevant criminal justice professionals. Some other consequences that get associated with homicide include an adverse impact on children, weakening of religious faith, divorce, scrutiny of the insensitive press and re-victimization by criminal justice professionals. Some of the officials in the criminal justice system do not understand the impact the death by homicide has on the survivors. It is the role of victim service providers to educate these professionals so as to reduce the insensitivity while conducting their tasks. The criminal justice professionals working with homicide survivors should discount mystical experiences among the survivors that take different forms such as strange dreams or nightmare visitations. The professionals should ensure that they normalize the experience and give the survivors an opportunity to express their feelings.

b) How would you notify parents that their child has been murdered?

The notification of parents about the death of a child should be done by a uniformed official since they get perceived by a majority of the citizens to be an authority figure. The notification should never be made via a telephone call. The notification team shall obtain as much information about the death and also be accompanied by the local victim assistance staff that assists in lessening the pain and suffering of the parents. The team shall travel to the home of the parents and shall not carry any personal items of the child since they add to the pain of the parents. At home, the team shall as ask to enter the home, then request for both the parents and state that they have important medical information to deliver. The notification official shall then deliver the information as clear, direct and straightforward as possible. The information that the official shall provide must include what happened, when it took place, how the child died and how the child was identified. The notification team should not behave as if shocked, but rather focus on addressing the immediate needs of the survivors as well as assist them in getting in touch with other relatives.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in nursing paper writing services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for medical essay writing service online.