It Hurts So Bad: Comparing Grieving Patterns of the Families of Murder Victims with Those of Families of Death Row Inmates

This research examines the experiences, attitudes, feelings, and coping mechanisms of 17 families of murder victims and compares them with Smykla’s findings based on interviews of families of death row inmates. Themes emerging from this research include emotional and health issues, social problems, changes in attitudes about personal safety, and distorted grieving patterns. Denial, anger, confusion, and feelings of powerlessness are common to both groups. Both families of murder victims and families of death rowinmates indicated similar complaints about their treatment by criminal justice personnel. These include apparent lack of compassion, incomplete information, unanswered phone calls, dissembling or untruthful replies to questions, ignorance about normal grief reactions, and lack of accessibility. Training should be provided to police officers and others who must interact with families of murder victims and families of the condemned so that their suffering is not increased.