Book review: After Homicide: Victims’ Families in the Criminal Justice System
| Published date | 01 September 2021 |
| Date | 01 September 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/02697580211008008 |
| Author | Sarah Britto |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
investigation and prosecution practices. Most importantly, this book normalizes victim behavior
that is often called into question. Using case excerpts, quotes from victims and offenders, and her
own experience, Dr Valliere breaks down common criticisms of victim behaviors and expands on
offender tactics critical to explore in the investigation and prosecution process. This compact guide
is an excellent, easy to understand resource for anyone engaged in practice, research, and policy
work on interpersonal violence. It is also a useful resource, and one I plan to use in the future, for
courses on interpersonal victimization and offending.
Sarah Goodrum, After Homicide: Victims’ Families in the Criminal Justice System, Lynne Rienner Publishers:
Boulder, USA, 2020; xx þ217 pp.: ISBN 9781626378322 (hbk)
Reviewed by: Sarah Britto, California State University, Dominguez Hills, USA
DOI: 10.1177/02697580211008008
After Homicide: Victims’ Families in the Criminal Justice System is based on Sarah Goodrum’s
in-depth interviews and participant observation with homicide survivors (victims), criminal justice
professionals, and crisis counselors in a single county in the United States. Chapter 1 introduces the
framework of symbolic interactionism to explore the meaning victims and individuals working in
the criminal justice system assign to the criminal justice process. The purposeful focus on the
criminal justice process and crime victims’ rights differentiates this work from previous research
on victims’ experiences with homicide. This eight-chapter book is organized around the structure
of a homicide case from death notification to the trial and its aftermath. Viewing each stage in the
criminal justice process from multiple perspectives highlights the regular tension in the meanings
ascribed to events and processes that are a part of homicide cases.
Death notifications are defining moments in the lives of homicide survivors and Goodrum
explores the complexity of the feelings associated with this process in Chapter 2. There is never
a good way to receive news about the loss of a loved one, yet the voices of victims attest there are
bad and better ways to deliver this news. For law enforcement, death notifications pose unique
challenges because their role includes the emotional labor of delivering tragic news and gathering
information from the family, which in many cases includes considering family members as poten-
tial suspects. Crisis counselors have an important role to play here, but their participation is often
constrained by evidentiary needs of the case. Clear recommendations for improving the death
notification process are offered.
Detectives and homicide survivors share a goal of seeking justice, yet there is often tremendous
tension as they negotiate the investigation process. Chapter 3 begins with a review of victims’
rights and then juxtaposes how the meanings of various processes are different for detectives and
victims. As an example, some family members express dismay that detectives do not sufficiently
mine their knowledge of the victim to aid in the investigation, while detectives often prefer a
detached professionalism that allows them to focus on the facts and follow leads. Another conflict
explored is the reality that family members’ need to grieve their loved one is often inconsistent
with detectives’ use of the body as evidence. Goodru m argues that clear communication and
information can aid victims and recommends increasing victims’ rights legislation related to law
enforcement. At the prosecutorial stage (Chapter 4) families seek a connection with the prosecutor
because they see this person as representing their loved one’s interest. Prosecutors who listen and
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