Abstract
Homicide is a major cause of mortality in contemporary American society, affecting all age groups, but showing a special predilection for members of the adolescent and young adult populations. Surviving parents of murder victims face a complex bereavement which derives not only from the sudden and traumatic nature of their child's death but also from the shattering of their own previously held personal assumptions about themselves and the world. In an effort to understand better the unique stresses and psychological processes which accompany the death of a child by homicide, a survey of more than 200 parents of murdered children was conducted, which forms the central framework upon which the ideas set forth in this paper are based. Emphasis is placed primarily upon the legitimization of such bereft individuals as covictims of these homicide crimes; the occurrence of symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (APA, 1980) with sufficient frequency and duration to warrant its chronic subtype diagnosis, the presence of disordered variants of mourning deriving from the coexistence of such traumatic stress symptomatology, and the impact that the destruction of previously held personal beliefs about oneself and the world has upon postmurder reactions and subsequent adjustment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (1980).Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (third edition), Washington, D.C., Author.
Bard, M., and Sangrey, D., (1986).The Crime Victim's Book (second edition), Citadel Press, N. J.
Bowman, N. J. (1980).Differential reactions to dissimilar types of death: specifically the homicide murder, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, United States International University.
Burgess, A. W. (1979). Family reactions to homicide.Am. J. Orthopsychiat. 45(3): 391–398.
Cazenave, N. A. (1971). Violence — An American institution.Temple Univ. Alumni Rev. 7–11.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (1982).Crime in the United States: Uniform Crime Reports U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington D. C.
Jackson, E. H. (1977). Comment, In Linzer, N. (ed.),Understanding Bereavement and Grief Yeshiva University Press, New York, pp. 1987–190.
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1985). The aftermath of victimization: Rebuilding shattered assumptions. In Figley, C. (ed.),Trauma and its Wake: The Study and Treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Brunner/Mazel, New York, pp. 15–35.
Leo, J. (1981). What crime does to the victims.Time, pp. 29–30 (March).
Lerner, M. J. (1985). Comment. In Figley, C. (ed.),Trauma and its Wake: the Study and Treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Brunner/Mazel, New York, p. 20.
Masters, R., Friedman, L., and Gretzel, G. (1988). Helping families of homicide victims: A multidimensional approach.J. Traum. Stress 1: 109–126.
Michalowski, R. J. (1976). The social meanings of violent deaths.Omega 7(1): 83–98.
National Organization of Victim Assistance (No date).Families and Friends: the Co-victims, Washington, D. C., Author.
Orbach, C. E. (1977). The multiple meaning of the loss of a child.Am. J. Psychother. 13: 906–915.
Rando, T. A. (1980).An investigation of grief and adaptation in parents whose children have died, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Rhode Island.
Rinear, E. E. (1985).Parental response patterns to the death of a child by homicide Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Temple University, Philadelphia.
Ross, E. K. (1969).On Death and Dying MacMillan, New York.
Seligman, M. E. P. (1985). Comment, In Figley, C. (ed).Trauma and Its Wake: The Study and Treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Brunner/Mazel, New York.
Tyler, C. W., Jr. (1983). Violence as a public health problem: Is there a role for health promotion and education?Health Education Focal Points, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, pp. 1–7.
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (1980).Bureau of Health Statistics Report U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington D. C.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Additional information concerning the author's study on surviving parents of child homicide victims may be directly obtained from University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan, using the reference notation cited in this paper.
About this article
Cite this article
Rinear, E.E. Psychosocial aspects of parental response patterns to the death of a child by homicide. J Trauma Stress 1, 305–322 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00974767
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00974767