MA Hons ( Aberdeen) MSc (Surrey) PhD ( Liverpool) Katarina is originally from the UK where she obtained her academic credentials and also qualified as a Chartered Forensic Psychologist. She joined the Psychology Department at Bond University in 2005, having previously been Course Director for the MSc in Forensic Psychology at the University of Surrey. Her PhD was in the Psychology of Malicious Fire setting, and she has undertaken both clinical and investigative work in the area of arson. She was an accredited Behavioural Investigative Adviser with the National Crime Faculty in the UK and provided assistance to over 30 police investigations of arson. She also worked with Clinical staff at Broadmoor Special Hospital and set up and ran one of the first fire setting treatment groups for both male and female forensic patients. She is a member of the British Psychological Society and of the Division of Forensic Psychology and also the American Psychological Association. Katarina’s research has contributed to theoretical development of models of understanding criminal behaviour, with a specific focus on differentiating criminal actions within the broader framework of Faceted Action Systems Theory (FAST) (Shye, 1985). The original forensic application of the FAST framework was to actions associated with fire setting (Canter and Fritzon, 1998) and evidence for the applicability of this framework for understanding a variety of different criminal behaviours has been found in studies of school homicides (Fritzon and Brun, 2005), intrafamilial homicide (Fritzon and Garbutt, 2001) and terrorist hostage taking (Fritzon, Canter and Wilton, 2001). Importantly, FAST appears to also provide defensible hypotheses for understanding ways in which these destructive actions might mirror other behaviours or characteristics of the individual, with a recent study providing evidence for functional consistency across two behavioural modalities within the same individual (Miller and Fritzon, 2005 in press). She is currently developing ideas around assessing motivation in arsonists using the FAST framework, focusing on the implications for risk assessment and management of arsonists.
Articles
Functional consistency across two behavioural modalities: fire-setting and self harm in female special hospital patients (with Sarah Miller), Humanities & Social Sciences papers (2007)
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Special Hospitals provide treatment and care for individuals with a mental disorder, detained under...
Understanding change in a therapeutic community: An action systems approach (with Lucy Neville and Sarah Miller), Humanities & Social Sciences papers (2007)
This study aims to provide a framework for assessing and modelling behavioural changes in a...
Beyond Columbine: A faceted model of school-associated homicide (with Andrea Brun), Psychology, Crime & Law (2005)
The current paper applies action systems theory to the phenomenon of school violence perpetrated by...
Disordered personalities at work (with Belinda Board), Psychology, Crime and Law (2005)
Current categorical classification systems of personality disorders (PDs) remain widely used amid growing evidence that...
Investigating the nature of expressiveness in stranger, acquaintance and intrafamilial homicides (with Stephanie K. Last), Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling (2005)
This study explores the role of the victim–offender relationship in the dynamics of homicide, by...
Book Chapters
Functional consistency in female forensic psychiatric patients: An action system theory approach (with Sarah Miller), Offence paralleling behaviour: A case formulation approach to offender assessment and intervention (2010)
New to the Wiley Series in Forensic Clinical Psychology, Offence Paralleling Behaviour presents an original...
Personality and social risk factors for driving offences (with Carla Ferrari and Laura Fleming), Personality and individual differences: Current directions (2010)
The aim of this study was to identify salient personality and social characteristics that are...
Assessment and treatment of fire-setters (with Rebekah Doley), Humanities & Social Sciences papers (2008)
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I am malicious because I am miserable. -Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
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Research methods in forensic psychology (with Mark Kebbell), Humanities & Social Sciences papers (2008)
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Students wishing to undertake research on a forensic-relevant topic often have no difficulty...