Who killed whom?: victimization and culpability in the social constructionof murder

Based on in-depth interviews with relatives of people convicted of murder, this article examines the ways in which everyday understandings of 'murder' are socially constructed, as revealed by rile narratives of murderers rela tives. To this end, interviewees' explanations of the killings are analysed and a distinction is drawn between interviewees who understood the killing s committed by their relatives as manslaughter and those who accepted the m urder verdict. In defining the offences in this way, interviewees identifie d the significance of victimization and culpability to understandings of in terpersonal violence. Through the analysis of interview data, it is possibl e to examine the ways in which 'murder' is seen to have occurred only when particular criteria of victimization and culpability; are met.