How satisfied are siblings of homicide victims with police?
| Author | Susan Louise Tasker |
| Published date | 01 June 2021 |
| Date | 01 June 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X20918624 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
How satisfied are siblings
of homicide victims with
police?
Susan Louise Tasker
Department of Educational Psychology & Leadership Studies, University
of Victoria, Victoria, Canada
Abstract
Police personnel and services may have a tremendous impact on the psychological well-
being of siblings who become victims of the murder of a brother or sister. Despite this,
only one study has examined satisfaction with police from the perspective of siblings. The
current study helps correct this paucity of research by studying a sample of 67 siblings
aged 6–40 (M¼20.4) years when a sibling was murdered. Satisfaction with police
contact and service were quantitatively and qualitatively explored. Overall, almost 60%
of the participants indicated satisfaction. Participants were satisfied when police were
beacons of humanity and committed to justice.
Keywords
Siblings of homicide victims, police, satisfaction, training
There is no preparation for the unfathomable reality of homicide loss. When a sibling is
murdered, surviving siblings are forced to confront the physical worlds of police inves-
tigation, media intrusion and exposure, coroner and medical examiner systems, victim
services and the criminal justice system (CJS; including courts and corrections). Only
one study (Clark, 2012) appears to have reported on the perceptions of police from the
perspective of siblings of brothers and sisters missing as the result of a probable homi-
cide. The study being reported here is the first to speak about satisfaction with police
from the direct perspective of siblings of confirmed and probable victims of homicide.
This is an important topic of concern for at least five reasons.
Corresponding author:
Susan Louise Tasker, Department of Educational Psychology & Leadership Studies, University of Victoria,
Room A462 MacLaurin Building, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 2Y2, Canada.
Email: stasker@uvic.ca
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2021, Vol. 94(2) 138–165
ªThe Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0032258X20918624
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
First, relative to other post-homicide contacts, police have the potential for the great-
est impact on the psychological well-being of siblings of homicide victims. Police are
often the first responders at the crime scene and usually responsible for death notifica-
tion. Beginning with the police, attention is focused mostly on the parents of a victim and
siblings are bypassed – including by parents who are often (understandably) psycholo-
gically, emotionally and/or physically unavailable. Consequently, siblings of homicide
victims feel overlooked. For most siblings of homicide victims, it will also be the first
time of being exposed to the physical world and ‘confusing business’ (Jenkins, 2001:
107) of police investigation. Not only are police the ‘gateway to safety, support, infor-
mation, and justice for victims of crime’ (IACP, 2009: 6), but police are also sometimes
the only agency with whom families have contact because not all homicide cases go to
court, some cases remaining unsolved for years upon years.
1
Second, the degree of satisfaction with police might affect the health and well-being
of siblings of homicide victims. For example, Clark (2012) reported on how the quality
of interaction with police and the investigation influenced the emotional well-being of
siblings immediately and over time.
Third, the research literature has also paid little attention to siblings of homicide
victims. Parents typically make up more than half of the sample, possibly because
parents are more likely to self-select into studies about homicide loss. Most studies mix
siblings of homicide victims with parents and other secondary victims (e.g. Casey, 2011;
Mezey et al., 2002; Simmons et al., 2014), making it difficult to discern the experience of
homicide and specific effects for siblings of homicide victims.
Fourth, siblings of homicide victims are secondary victims (family members, legal
guardians and dependents of victims) of homicide and secondary victims of homicide are
recognized as crime victims (e.g. Government of Canada, 2009). The International Asso-
ciation of Chiefs of Police (IACP, 2009) describes crime victims as ‘key stakeholders in
problem-oriented policing since they hold unique perspectives, valuable insights, active
interest in the problem, and strong feelings about criminal behavior’ (p. 3).
Fifth, while no available data exist on the number of siblings of homicide victims,
victims do leave siblings behind. Looking at Canada and the United States (US), for
example, homicide rates per 100,000 population ranged between 1.63 in 2010 and 1.45
in 2014 in Canada (Statistics Canada (StatCan), 2015), and between 4.8 and 4.5 in the US
(Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 2014 ). In 2017, homicide rates per 100,000
population were 1.80 in Canada (StatCan, 2018) and 5.4 in the US (FBI, 2017), reflecting
660 victims in Canada and 16,446 in the US. In both countries, homicide rates are below
the global average of 6.4 homicides per 100,000 population (World Health Organization
(WHO), 2017). Previous research has suggested a figure of between 6 and 10 survivors
per homicide victim (Vessier-Batchen and Douglas, 2006). On average, there are two or
less children per family in Canada (StatCan, 2011) and the US (US Bureau of the Census,
2004). By extrapolation therefore, homicide victims in Canada and the US, for example,
are survived on average by at least one sibling.
The issue of siblings of homicide victims’ satisfaction with police is therefore not a
minor issue but an important topic to talk about. As a largely overlooked subset of crime
victims, the perspective of siblings of homicide victims on satisfaction with police is
worthy of research attention.
Tasker 139
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