Forensic Narratives, Love and Homicide

Abstract

As noted in Chapter 1, I do not suggest that the identified sub-themes represent the only narratives which rationalize IPF in the press; neither do I argue that they form a theoretically coherent framework for explaining IPF. The purpose of my discussion is to identify how we popularly, and perhaps in a ‘common-sense’ way, comprehend the story of the violence with a focus on the potential repercussions for victims — primary, secondary and tertiary. We are all potential tertiary victims of homicide, as members of communities affected by it. The way we live, the way we comprehend our relationships and our place in social hierarchies will be affected by societal responses to homicide. In the context of this research IPF narratives tell women and men what are reasonable provocations or motivations. There is a general consensus that men can be forgiven for killing their intimate partners; we are extraordinarily sympathetic to them. The sub-strands identify circumstances where violence and love can plausibly co-exist. They organize the data and illustrate the dominant gendered frameworks for rationalizing, understanding or explaining IPF across institutional sites and within the culture within a narrative. We should not underestimate the power of forensic narratives, or the story of the violence as told by the media, police and other institutions of criminal justice.