부산대학교 도서관

The purpose of this study is to examine whether covictims of homicide case achieve the feeling of closure of their cases by the consequency of sentence for the murder. This study also aims to examine if the final sentence for the responsible person of the homicide case affects on the covictims’ attitude towards the criminal justice system as a whole. It is generally assumed that receiving the capital punishment gives feeling of control back to them and let them move on their lives, which is called as a feeling of closure. Yet, it has not been synthetically examine in the context of Korea. Furthermore, it is still unknown wether the final penality for the murder affects the covictims perceptions on the justice system. To find answers on these questions, this study conducted a series of open-ended in-depth interview and collected a set of qualitative data. In qualitative data analysis, this study found a set of thematic categories of statements including no closure, unsatisfaction on sentencing, unachieved justice, revenge, unforgiveness, and unsolved psychological distress, support for the capital punishment. In general, the study results reveal that most of covictims did not achieved the closure and supported the death penalty, and, unhealed variety of psychological distress. These feeling of the covctims, in turn, has affected on their attitude toward the criminal justice system negatively.