Redefining Murder, Transforming Emotion

Offering insights based on years of original research, Redefining Murder, Transforming Emotion: An Exploration of Forgiveness after Loss Due to Homicide investigates the ideas and experiences of individuals who have lost loved ones to homicide (co-victims) in order to advance our understanding of the emotional transformation of forgiveness. It stands at the crux of two vibrant, growing fields: criminal victimology and the sociology of emotion. Analysis of 36 intensive interviews with co-victims and three years of participant observation of self-help groups and other victim-centered events offers a multidimensional understanding of forgiveness.

Specifically, this book answers the questions of "What?," "When?," "How?," and "Why?" forgiveness occurs by exploring co-victims¿ ideas about forgiveness, the differential experiences of various groups of people, the processes through which forgiveness occurs in a variety of extreme circumstances of homicide, and co-victims¿ mot