Author: Simone Deegan
Deegan, Simone, 2019 The lives and adjustment patterns of juvenile lifers, Flinders University, College of Business, Government and Law
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This thesis compares and contrasts the biographies of individuals (N = 19) sentenced to life
imprisonment in South Australia for a murder committed before their 18th birthdays. The focus is on
young males, but the core experiences of the sole female that fit the research criteria are
considered as well. Participant narratives concerning a range of conditions leading to and
occurring at the time the victim was killed highlight some of the factors (within and beyond custody)
that appeared to work against successful rehabilitation. Specifically, the thesis asks whether the
(adult) criminal justice frame is the most appropriate way to deal with children who commit grave
acts. The thesis concludes that juveniles typically learn little of value across their life sentences
and may, in fact, adapt to prison in ways that augment and reinforce the problems that initially led
to the juveniles’ incarceration.
Keywords: juvenile lifer, life sentence, homicide, murder rehabilitation
Subject: Criminal Justice thesis
Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2019
School: College of Business, Government and Law
Supervisor: Mark Halsey