Essay Sample on Family Touched by Homicide

Death is a common phenomenon that almost all families are bound to face in one way or the other. All human beings will die at some given point in their lifetime. However, people never take it easily whenever they lose a member of their family. In most cases, people lose their loved ones through diseases or any form of an accident. It is also notable that conflict is the nature of human coexistence. Any community of human beings is bound to experience some sort of conflicts at a point. However, the process of conflict resolution may at times result in serious violence and even death. By killing an individual, there are serious implications that the family is posed to. Homicide might take various forms including murder, manslaughter or any other thing that may cause the death of an individual from a fellow human being. Political assassinations, robbery, land disputes and other forms of conflicts may lead to homicide.

While death is not the will of any human being, it is also one of the very few things that man has no control over. It means therefore that once an individual is dead, the family has to accept and live with the bitter truth of not being able to see one of their own again. Therefore, morning is often the surest way of letting the bitterness go. However, the bitterness that comes with an individuals death also depends on the cause of the very death. Slain individuals are often given much attention as compared to other forms of natural death. Additionally, murder or any other form of homicide subjects the slain individual to a given kind of pain that anybody may not wish to bear. Therefore, this often leaves the family members with a lot of pain when they imagine what their member could have gone through.

Additionally, such phenomenon often occurs unexpectedly and in most cases finds the family off-guard. Therefore, it might be difficult for the family to cope with the growing financial needs in preparation for the burial arrangements. In facts, some families may go as far as taking up loans to be able to cater for all the expenses that relate to the arrangements. It may, however, be difficult to pay back the money and the family members have to struggle to make it a success. Consequently, a time of death is a time of grief. Most people may not be able to continue with their daily duties. For those working with the private sector of running their own businesses, such days may see them make losses since they might not be able to attend to them.

Death also poses a great threat to a family in many other ways. Consider a family where one parent is the breadwinner who takes care of all the family expenses. The family may not be able to operate efficiently without that specific parent. If for example the individual is murdered, serious implications are posed to the family including financial challenges. In such a scenario, learning programs of the children may be distorted; the family may not be able to feed itself as before and also get adequate and quality medical services. It may be difficult for the children to adapt to the new kind of life. In the end, their life may have a twist

Nonetheless, we have to accept that these are challenges that come with life in any given society. There is, therefore, a need for such families to implement coping strategies that can help them move on with their lives after the painful event. The first strategy to move on is acceptance. When people accept that death is a reality; they are not often shaken by such phenomena. In fact, those who accept maybe have easy time bring peace back to their heart. Secondly, the family has to mourn the death of their loved one. By mourning, anger is released from the heart and with time, people learn how to move on with their lives. Consequently, any family that is hit by such a tragedy has to seek for justice. In most cases, the family members end up not knowing who killed their loved ones and for what reason. This situation may, however, be disturbing and can cause stress among family members.

Once justice is served, and the killers brought to book, the family might have some element of relief which is a serious coping mechanism. However, some cases may be serious and might need medical attention. Such cases are however rare and often catch individuals with blood pressure complications. Most importantly, any family has to learn how to continue, with their lives after the loss of a loved one. Even if the slain individual was the bread winner, such a family must devise new ways through which they can earn a living, educate the children and maintain their living standards. Once that living standard is maintained, it might be hard for the family to keep on remembering their lost friend.