The Effect Of The Death Penalty On Families

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The death penalty has a huge impact on the families involved to include the families of the victim and the families of the condemned. It is agreed that there is much pain on both sides. Violent deaths are horrific and they are life changing events. The victims family is traumatized due to their loss. The article states that the crime cannot be undone and the observer of a capital trial is likely to feel empathy and frustration for both families. In the end how much comfort or support can the criminal justice system provide both families? This chapter examines how victims distress have made significant changes to our legal system. For many years homicide victims views were ignored. This was changed due to cases like Furman v Georgia. Society began to pay more attention to the family of the victims. This sparked the victims’ rights movement. Today, much of our attention is still focused toward the family of the victims. Decades later from the victims’ rights movement there is little research and support for the family of the defendant. These families continue to be ignored. There is however increased research on homicide victim survivors. This research discusses the impact the homicide had on siblings, children, and parents. The experience of dealing with the death of a loved one takes its toll as being always difficult. The thing that increases this difficulty is when the death is violent. This produces a shock to the sole and I believe it’s irreversible. Some say murder is the worst evil imaginable. There are overwhelming of grief, anger, and desire for revenge. This is why closure is a critical for the healing process. The families of the victims need to know that the defendant will not kill again and cause another family pain and the defendant should pay his debt to society. Those who

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