Date of Conferral

3-14-2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Marcus Susan

Abstract

Black families and friends of homicide victims (BFFHV) are left behind to grieve and cope with the traumatic loss of a loved one to homicide. The evidence reveals a risk of developing emotional and psychological issues for the survivors. The purpose of this study was to explore four phenomena the BFFHV experience: (a) the experience with local law enforcement and the courts during the investigation of the homicide, (b) the experience of grieving over traumatic loss, (c) the experience of coping with traumatic loss, and (d) their current relationship with the community. Heider’s attribution theory was used to guide the development of the interview questions and the data analysis plan. A purposeful homogeneous sample of eight participants was recruited and interviewed. A thematic interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to identify six unique themes: being notified/immediacy, aftershock, relationship between BFFHVs and the criminal justice system (CJS), CJS does not care, emotional relationship to the community, and life will never be the same. The development of personal (internal) and environmental (external) attributes associated with those themes described how participants’ grief and coping were both internally and externally attributed. Future research can be conducted with families, including adolescents and young adults, to understand these phenomena from a family systems perspective. It is hoped that the results contribute to positive social change by improving resources to assist survivors with loss and by transforming the relationship between law enforcement and Black communities so that they no longer have to accept homicide as a part of life.

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