The impact of time on the healing process of families of capital murder victims

值得注意的是，缺乏对符合死亡条件的杀人案(可能导致死刑的最令人发指的杀人案)受害者的实证研究。就这项建议而言，我使用“受害者”一词来指代凶杀案受害者尚存的家庭成员。虽然犯罪直接影响杀人案中幸存的受害者，但人们对死刑是否影响受害者的福祉知之甚少(Armour and Umbreit，2006年)。我建议通过从时间的角度调查死刑对美国凶杀案受害者家属的影响来解决学术文献中的这一空白。主要是，我感兴趣的是，通常用作死刑正当理由的治愈和关闭进程是否随着时间的推移而中断，特别是被与死刑案件相关的漫长上诉程序打断。根据Madeira(2016)的说法，死刑的程序现实远远不是治疗性的，相反，它给家庭成员造成了进一步的痛苦。例如，冗长的人身保护上诉程序往往将处决推迟十年或更长时间，全国三分之二的死刑判决在上诉时被推翻(同上)。我建议人们熟知的口语化短语“时间是治愈者”，可能只适用于很少或没有其他加重因素阻止这些治疗过程发生的情况。例如，这些因素可能包括每次法院审理新的上诉时，媒体对案件的定期报道，提醒案件的家属，并可能产生再创伤的影响。重要的是要看看不得假释的生活(LWOP)是否会为受害者提供一个更容易的解决方案。因此，我将比较死刑案件和LWOP案件中受害者的愈合和关闭过程。我建议在宣判后采访受害者，尽可能广泛地涵盖时间范围。通过这样做，我试图了解死刑是否为受害者提供了比LWOP更大的安慰和了结；或者，如果受害者在LWOP判决后情况更好。这类研究的结果应该会更深入地了解长期大写人身保护上诉对受害者家庭的影响，特别是评估死刑加剧和中断的可能性，而不是有助于愈合进程。我希望我的研究将为人权组织提供信息，并推动优先考虑凶杀案受害者家属的政策。

There is a notable lack of empirical research focusing on the 'victims' of death-eligible homicide (the most heinous of homicides that could result in a death penalty). For the purpose of this proposal, I use 'victims' to refer to surviving family members of homicide victims. Although crime directly impacts surviving victims of homicide cases, little is known about whether or not a death sentence impacts victims' well-being (Armour and Umbreit, 2006). I propose to address this gap in academic literature by investigating the impact of the death penalty on the families of homicide victims in the US, through the lens of time. Principally, I am interested in whether the processes of healing and closure, which are commonly used as justification for capital punishment, are perhaps being interrupted over time, and in particular, by the lengthy appeals process associated with capital cases.According to Madeira (2016), capital punishment's procedural realities are far from therapeutic, and instead create further distress for family members. For example, the lengthy habeas appeals process often postpones executions for a decade or more, with two-thirds of death sentences being overturned on appeal nationwide (ibid.). I suggest that the well-known colloquial phrase, 'time is a healer', may only be applicable where there are few or no other aggravating factors preventing these therapeutic processes from occurring. Such factors, for example, may include regular media reports of a case each time a new appeal is heard in the courts, reminding the families of the case and having a potentially re-traumatising effect. It will be important to see whether life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) may provide an easier resolution for victims.Thus, I will compare the healing and closure processes of victims from both capital cases and LWOP cases. I propose to interview victims post-sentencing, covering as wide a range of timescales as possible. In doing so, I seek to understand whether capital punishment provides greater comfort and closure for victims than LWOP; or, if victims fare better following an LWOP sentence.The findings of this kind of study should provide a deeper understanding of the impact of long capital habeas appeals on victims' families and, in particular, assess the potential of the death penalty to aggravate and interrupt, rather than contribute towards the healing process. I hope that my research will inform human rights organisations, as well as advancing policies that prioritise the families of homicide victims.