Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007

Crime's reach stretches beyond criminal, victim

Crime's reach is long, broad and not fully understood.

That lack of understanding and public policy "just keeps the cycle going,'' said Susan Sharp, associate professor of sociology at the University of Oklahoma.

The worst mass shooting in U.S. history last week left an untold number of victims in its wake. The effect even reached the shores of South Korea as an official there warned against allowing it to "stir up racial prejudice or confrontation.'' The shooter was a South Korean student at Virginia Tech.

Closer to home, three admitted members of the Latin Kings gang were arrested after a series of shootings.

Days later another death due to domestic violence, the state's No. 1 crime problem according to the S.C. attorney general, hit Conway. That all came on the heels of heightened concerns about school safety after a Myrtle Beach High School student shot himself in the leg during class.

While the public is well aware of the immediate effects of crime - innocent lives lost, grieving family and friends, increased public fear - society hasn't begun to understand the long-term effects.

And experts say there has been little attention paid to how the families of offenders fare, leaving them - especially younger family members - vulnerable and at risk of perpetuating the cycle of violence.

"I go in to courtrooms all the time and feel just as badly for the defendant's family,'' said Greg Hembree, solicitor for the 15th Judicial Circuit.

Crime's ripples are multilayered. Generations of families get caught in the criminal justice system because more attention isn't paid to all facets of crime's tentacles, Sharp said.

The victim's family is racked with grief, anger and the realization they won't ever be able to touch a loved one again, research shows.

Some become advocates for change in the mold of "America's Most Wanted'' John Walsh or the founders of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Melissa Boyd of Socastee helped found chapters of Students Against Destructive Decisions after her daughter died in a drunken driving crash.

Conway resident Linda Snelling became an advocate and educator and founded ``Not One More'' to help prevent domestic violence after her daughter died in a domestic dispute.

Others try to forgive so as not to be consumed by anger or thoughts of loss.

Still, unanswered questions linger: Why? Could it have been prevented?

"It leaves you frustrated,'' Hembree said.

Offenders' families go through similar struggles and questions, though their journeys include other facets, said Stephanie Weeks, an assistant professor of psychology and sociology at Coastal Carolina University.

"The criminal is inaccessible but still alive,'' she said.

That complicates the grieving process because it leaves room for periods of unrequited hope and shame, she said.

There is no event, such as a funeral, around which they can rally and be embraced by a caring public. Often, they are viewed as guilty by association.

"They may not be allowed to publicly grieve,'' Weeks said of offenders' families. "These children do not fare well. They do not do as well as their peers who do not have family members incarcerated. And they don't have the support that the victim's family has. We've overlooked this other piece. Even science has overlooked it.''

Friday, the family of Seung-Hui Cho issued an apology for the deaths of 32 students and faculty members at Virginia Tech. "He has made the world weep'' the statement said. "We are living a nightmare.''

Criminologists have spent several years studying offenders' families before the crime, victims' families after, and how crime affects society.

There is little research about the effect on offenders' families after a loved one is incarcerated.

Public outrage is a primary factor. A victim's rights group protested as Sharp presented findings from one of the few studies about how crime affects offenders' families.

"The offender's family is often blamed in some way,'' she said. "As a society, we just don't think they matter. We are very big on retribution in this country. I think services need to be provided to the family of offenders. People are realizing that the long-term consequences are pretty bad.''

Those consequences include young members of the offenders' family repeating the destructive pattern of an older sibling or parent, Weeks said.

"Some kids will get into severe trouble because they are trying to be like the criminal,'' she said. "The person is lost to them and they want to be able to identify with them in some way.''

It also has a direct effect on already strained social services programs, it affects student achievement and it makes social adjustment difficult.

"DSS sees effects of incarceration on families in several areas,'' said Virginia Williamson, General Counsel for the S.C. Department of Social Services. "There are families who turn to DSS for economic services because of the loss of income.''

"In the area of child protection, incarceration of a parent may contribute to the risk of harm to children because of the stress on the other parent,'' she said. "When a parent of a child in foster care is in prison, it can complicate and sometimes delay getting a permanent home for that child.''

Crime affects prosecuting and defense attorneys, witnesses and jurors, police officers and emergency medical technicians.

Horry County Public Defender Orrie West consoles suspects' parents overcome by guilt.

"We always have to explain to them that they didn't commit a crime,'' West said. "Most parents don't realize that their child's conduct is not related to their upbringing.''

Having to oversee case after case of abused children, graphic murders and severe domestic violence also takes its toll on prosecutors, Hembree said.

The "ripple effect goes through the whole community,'' he said. "You really don't know how far out those ripples will reach.''