The Grief of Parents of Murdered Children: A Suggested Model for Intervention

The grief of parents who have lost children to murder is extreme, prolonged, and unique. The authors, themselves bereaved by homicide, suggest a model to facilitate understanding such grief and to guide intervention. The model postulates that homicide survivor grief occurs in three arenasthe private, personal world; the public world of the media; and the world of the criminal justice system. Each arena contains features unique to homicide survivor bereavement. These features are described for the reader.