Murder Victim Family Members, the Death Penalty, and Restorative Justice

Different Opinions on the Death Sentence

Different opinions on the death sentence have been expressed by the relatives of murder victims. The author set out to learn more about the families of murder victims’ perceptions of pardon and the guilty decision. The paper does have some valid points and facts, but the data collection and analysis were insufficient and did not yield enough information.

Attitudes and Feelings of the Survivors

To learn about the attitudes and feelings of the survivors, the author used open-ended questionnaires. The author came to the conclusion that, in some rare instances, the families of murder victims combined forgiveness with steadfast support for the death sentence. Some rejected death penalty. When offenders met survivors, most offenders’ last statements show remorse and under rare occasions, survivors agree that the remorse is genuine. Some victims expressed restrictive forgiveness and they communicated with their offenders only because they believed it would bring emotional relief, however, they supported the death penalty because they believed that it was just and viewed it as a way to make the offenders pay for their mistakes. Most individuals showed ambivalent forgiveness and did not want to meet the offenders or agreed to the death penalty, they just did not want the offenders released for safety reasons. Few interviewees expressed redemptive forgiveness and rejected death penalty claiming that it is against their morals.

Consistency with Previous Research

Much of the information written in the article is consistent with the previous researches, Alford (2014), found out that forgiveness helps in self-control. The article is confusing since it does not narrow down to victims in Texas or Virginia as mentioned in the introduction. It is evident from the article that a person could forgive and want justice at the same time. The article implies that forgiveness relieves pain and fosters self-control.

References

Alford, C. F. (2014). Trauma and Forgiveness: Introduction: trauma and forgiveness; 2. Is the Holocaust traumatic?; 3. Winnicott and trauma: psychology and marginalization; 4. Melanie Klein, forgiveness and a good enough world: theory; 5. Melanie Klein, forgiveness and a good enough world: practice; 6. Forgiveness and transitional experience: Winnicott; 7. Jean Ame; ry: resentment, loneliness, and aging; 8. Conclusion: trauma as knowledge and the virtue of forgiveness. Cambridge University Press.

Barrile G. L. 2015. Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, USA. I forgive you, but you must die: Murder victim family members, the death penalty, and restorative justice file:///C:/Users/gabby/Documents/i%20forgive%20you%20but%20u%20must%20die.pdf