52 The grieving process begins with the irruption of a very painful or violent fact that causes a trauma, for which reason it is necessary for the psyche to begin to invest energy to overcome that event. It goes through several stages, starting with perplexity and denial, a necessary period for the psyche to adjust to that irruption. Then, when the person is aware of what happened, there is a period of great grief and depression with a whole set of symptoms that includes somatic aspects. There are bursts of indignation, extreme anger, there will probably be denial once again, and feelings of guilt. If the event is a natural one, the grieving process has a chronological timeframe with a more or less determined duration; instead, if that is not the case, as happened to the Mack Chang family, it may never be fully completed. The psychological consequences of State violence, and specifically of extra-legal executions, for the next of kin of the victim vary and they depend on the age of each person and his or her relationship with the victim. Such a violent death is not natural. Depressive states are quite frequent, and they often become chronic, with some type of remission, aggressiveness, and character changes. There are several symptoms, such as bursts of irritability and aggression, difficulty to concentrate, nightmares, problems sleeping, difficulties or alterations with respect to eating, a generally low motivation, extreme tiredness, and symptoms that are called psychosomatic, or directly related to the emotional state. Some of these effects are suffered by all the next of kin. The siblings may have major feelings of guilt. For the children it is quite different. If the children are small or adolescents, it is even more difficult, it is very hard for them to understand. The family does not understand either, and they also try to protect them, which creates a circle of mistrust, an affective withdrawal. The children, especially during adolescence, as in this case, face a sudden interruption of their process of building an adult life project. All these consequences worsen when there is no justice. Another damage is added when those responsible are not punished. The brutal form of the facts is another aggravating factor with respect to the emotional state. Lack of protection by the State interrupts and impedes the process of grieving of the whole family. Impunity causes a feeling of disbelief, first regarding institutions and then toward all of society, including the most intimate relations. There are feelings of powerlessness and indignation that affect the individuals’ whole lives because they have to invest a great amount of energy to overcome that indignation, that powerlessness. Therefore, punishment of those responsible helps the grieving process take place. Based on this, a general psychological diagnosis was carried out. The whole Mack Chang family has been affected in all areas of its life; they had to set aside or truncate life projects, they suffered and continue to suffer, especially the mother, a chronic process of depression. They had to isolate themselves, set friendships and social life aside. They all have a feeling of great mistrust toward Guatemalan society in general and toward the world. They are hesitant to express feelings, to avoid feeling more vulnerable and to be able to continue. There were other organic symptoms of the emotional state, such as deafness in the case of Myrna Mack Chang’s brother and a problem in her brother’s head. The fact that those responsible were not punished gave rise to a pattern of permanent grieving. For this reason, it is essential for those responsible to be punished for this not to become an eternal grieving. The murder was an act of public, institutional violence. The family suffered horrible intimidation and still