Are Young Killers "Different"? A Comparison of Young and Older Homicide Offenders

Limited research has examined whether and how young male homicide offenders differ from older male homicide offenders. This question was investigated using data from the Australian Homicide Project. Offenders were classified as young (15-24 years) or older (25+), based on their age at the time of homicide. Offenders were also categorized depending on victim-offender relationship: friend/acquaintance or stranger. The four age-victim-offender relationship groups (young-friend/acquaintance, young-stranger, older-friend/acquaintance, and older-stranger) were compared across individual, developmental, offending, and contextual variables. The results show that young homicide offenders tend to resemble older homicide offenders more than they differ from them, even when considering different victim-offender relationships. Overall, both young and older male homicide offenders experience a range of dysfunctional and nonnormative, yet nevertheless similar, experiences over the life course.