Richards Y1,2,3, Keatley D1,2,3,
1Researchers in Behaviour Sequence Analysis (ReBSA), 2Forensic Linguistic Analysis Group (FLAG), 3School of Law, Murdoch University
Biography:
Yasmin Richards is a PhD student at Murdoch University. She is currently a member of Forensic Linguistic Analysis Group (FLAG), Cold Case Review@ Murdoch (CCR@) and Researchers in Behaviour Sequence Analysis (ReBSA). Research areas of interest include children and crime and deception detection.
Dr David Keatley is an Associate Professor at Murdoch University and an international Police consultant. David has published over 60 articles and 3 books on criminology.
A majority of the literature on homicides focuses on adult offenders, therefore leaving adolescent-perpetrated homicide research relatively under-researched. However, a number of homicide cases have been perpetrated by individuals under the age of 18. To better understand homicides, researchers have begun to look at complex models of behaviour, including temporal analyses. The current research investigates the life histories of adolescents who have perpetrated murder and the temporal pathways of early childhood adverse experiences. Two leading temporal methods: Behaviour Sequence Analysis and Crime Script Analysis were used to map the pathways. Results indicated that specific antecedent events occurring in early childhood are likely to influence future criminal behaviour. Results show the complexities of behavioural pathways in terms of transitions between behaviours and how groups of behaviours develop into scenes. Frequently occurring transitions of behaviours included proficient with firearms and parental divorced/ separation in childhood. The latter transition was reflected in the influences scene of the CSA, in which parental separation or divorce and abuse suffered, such as beatings, were most frequent. The application of this research may help researchers and practitioners to understand the life histories of adolescent offenders, particularly behaviours considered ‘risk factors’ for future criminality through developing the wider adolescent offending literature and identifying the strengths and limitations of each temporal method.
Richards, Y., & Keatley, D. A. (2021). Adolescent killers: Using two timeline methods to map life histories of adolescents that kill. Deviant Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2021.1950516