Homicide and Trauma

Homicide and Murder

Although dictionaries define homicide as a noun and murder as a verb, for legal purposes and general discussion, both words refer to an unlawful killing of another human being. Other terms used in various contexts (e.g., institutional, military, or gang-related) include kill, assassinate, eliminate, slaughter, butcher, exterminate, slay, execute, put to death, massacre, bump off, waste. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program defines homicide as “the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.”

Regardless of how the words are defined, it is the willful nature—the prethought, or premeditation—of murder that is considered the most traumatic to both loved ones and society and is usually followed by the most severe penalties in the criminal justice system. Although it is not uncommon for the intentionality of suicide to result in guilt within families whose members blame themselves for not preventing the death, the intentionality of homicide leaves those close to the victim filled with rage as well as guilt.

Crime Victims

Public agencies that provide crime-victim benefits, services, and advocacy are established for those victimized by a crime such as child abuse, rape, theft, and so on. In cases of homicide, however, the victim [Page 306]is deceased, which has caused the surviving family members to be underserved for many years. New terms have helped increase the recognition of and assistance to “living homicide victims” by identifying them as co-victims or derivative victims of homicide. Family members, however, may reject such terms and want to be referred to as a “survivor” or “thriver” rather than as a victim. One survivor explained that she wanted to be refined, not defined by her sister's murder. For the purposes of this entry, co-victim and survivor will be used interchangeably.