Home after Homicide: How Do Children and Young People Experience Home Following Bereavement Through Intimate Partner Homicide?

Disruption to the home environment is a central consequence of bereavement through intimate partner homicide (IPH) that threatens surviving children’s wellbeing. Despite this, very little is known about how children experience and respond to this profound disruption, while such work is critical in better understanding their perspectives and support needs. This qualitative study aimed to address this gap by exploring post-homicide experiences of home in young people and adults who were bereaved by IPH during childhood to better support future victim-survivors. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 people with lived experience of bereavement in Australia (n = 12) and the UK (n = 10). Seventeen participants identified as female, three as male, and two as non-binary. Victim parents were biological mothers in 20 cases and biological fathers in two cases. Perpetrators were participants’ biological father in 16 cases, a current or former partner of their biological mother in four cases, and their biological mother in two cases. Through reflexive thematic analysis, we generated three themes: (1) home as unfamiliar, (2) continued instability and violence in the home, and (3) redefining and journeying home. Post-homicide home environments were often experienced as unfamiliar in the context of displacement from the family home, difficulty adjusting to new environments, loss of belongings, and changed relationships. Children were rarely involved in decision making regarding living arrangements and often felt silenced in post-homicide homes that were only transitory or unsafe. Participants were active in responding to these challenges, which was evident in efforts to reimagine and find a sense of home in non-traditional spaces and settings. Implications for supporting children and their caregivers are discussed. This qualitative study interviewed 22 individuals from Australia and the UK to understand how home is experienced after the death of a parent through intimate partner homicide. The impact of bereavement extends beyond displacement from the physical home and is closely entwined with experiences of daily life, relationships, comfort, and safety. Services and caregivers should prioritise children’s agency and safety, honour prior customs, and facilitate access to belongings from pre-homicide homes where possible.