“Hidden Victims,” a new book by sociologist Susan F. Sharp of the University of Oklahoma, examines the impact of capital punishment on the families of those facing execution. Through a series of in-depth interviews with families of the accused, Sharp illustrates from a sociological standpoint how family members and friends of those on death row are, in effect, indirect victims of the initial crime. The book emphasizes their responses to sentencing, as well as how they grieve and face an impending execution. Sharp also examines the issues of wrongful conviction and the change in family structure after a loved one has been sent to death row. The book contains a foreword by death penalty expert Michael Radelet. (Rutgers University Press, 2005). See Victims and Books.
