Murderers, victims and 'survivors' - The social construction of deviance

Journal/Book: Brit J Criminol. 1998; 38: Great Clarendon St, Oxford OX2 6DP, England. Oxford Univ Press. 185-200.

Abstract: Two visions of homicide, murderers and victims are contrasted. One, conventional in criminology, has it that murders are the culmination of drawn-out, acrimonious transactions occurring within demographically homogeneous sectors of the population. It leads to a blurring of moral identities and causal relations. The other is championed by homicide 'survivors' organizations, and it claims an existentially validated authority. Homicide is experienced by 'survivors' as a chaotic episode which gives way to strong; antagonistic archetypes of victim and offender. The two visions are examined, in part, to promote an appreciation of the analytic complexities of the phenomenon of murder; in part, to point to the fraught politics that are beginning to emerge around resolving the character of murder.

Note: Article Rock P, Ctr Adv Study Behav Sci, Stanford,CA 94305 USA

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