Keen Family Case Study – Criminal Justice
Keen Family Case Study
Sandra Keen AGE: 46 years old
FAMILY: Sandra is married to Joseph Keen with whom she has two children: Shawn (17 years old) and Tracey (22 years old). She drank heavily during both pregnancies, and her children display some symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome. As a parent, Sandra is emotionally unavailable and has ignored her children for much of their lives, except when they supply her with drugs and/or alcohol.
EMPLOYMENT: Sandra’s employment in the human resources (HR) department of a local hospital was recently terminated. As a result, Sandra receives assistance from the state for housing and food. She also currently works part-time as an evening custodian at a local school.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE: Sandra has been addicted to opiates for the past 5 years and has been an alcoholic for most of her adult life.
CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR: Sandra is currently on probation after colluding with a nurse to steal opiates from the hospital to “manage her pain” from a car accident that occurred 5 years ago.
JOSEPH KEEN AGE: 53 years old
FAMILY: Joseph has been married multiple times and is currently married to Sandra Keen.
HEALTH: Joseph is prone to severe mood swings and periods of impulsivity and irrational behavior; however, he refuses to see a mental health professional for help.
EMPLOYMENT: Joseph is currently unemployed because he is in prison. He used to be a long-haul truck driver and spent long periods of time away from his family.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE: Joseph is an alcoholic who becomes very violent when he has been drinking. Prior to being put in prison, Joseph often frequented bars—where he picked up women whom he ultimately conned, manipulated, and physically intimidated to give him money to support his drinking habit. Joseph frequently brags to his fellow prisoners about how much money he has conned out of women, remarking that it is not his fault that the women are “dumb enough” to give him money.
CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR: After a long night of drinking and fighting with Sandra, Joseph attempted to strangle her. As a result, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison. He does not think the attempted strangulation is a “big deal” and often jokes that, if he were not so drunk that night, he could have “finished the job.”
SHAWN KEEN AGE: 17 years old
FAMILY: Shawn is fiercely loyal to this family and feels that he is the protector of his mother and sister, in the absence of his father.
SCHOOL: Shawn is an average student but refuses to follow directions or rules. He becomes very combative when asked to do so. He has also been suspended from school multiple times for fighting. The most recent suspension occurred when Shawn punched a classmate in the face after the classmate accidently bumped into him in the hallway. When asked why he is aggressive with his peers, Shawn replied that his peers are conspiring against him and intentionally provoking him to get him into trouble. Shawn regularly skips school to be with friends. Despite receiving multiple phone calls about Shawn’s absences from school, Sandra does not attempt to discipline Shawn.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE: Shawn drinks with his mother and uses marijuana with his friends—a few of whom sell drugs.
CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR: Shawn is a member of a local gang whose crimes are petty, including shoplifting and vandalism. In most cases, Shawn has not gotten caught for these crimes and does not have any remorse for committing them because, technically, he is “not physically hurting anyone.” Currently, Shawn is on probation for truancy and theft.
TRACEY KEEN AGE: 22 years old
HEALTH: Tracey has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She currently takes medication and sees a mental health counselor at the community clinic one to two (1–2) times weekly to manage her symptoms.
FAMILY: Tracey currently lives with her mother and brother. She also has a 3-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. Tracey’s boyfriend, Victor, is “self-employed” (i.e., sells drugs). Victor often beats Tracey with his fists or a belt when he has been drinking or when she “provokes him.” Tracey often waits for Victor to pass out and steals opiates to supply her mother’s drug habit.
SCHOOL: Tracey dropped out of high school during her junior year, after being expelled for attacking a teacher.
EMPLOYMENT: Tracey is receiving disability payments due to her bipolar disorder. She also receives state assistance for childcare.
CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR: Tracey is currently on probation for writing bad checks to banks. She initially engaged in this behavior because she believed it was the only viable way to make enough money to support her daughter—asserting that state assistance is “not enough.” She also argues that the banks “won’t miss the money” and that banks “steal money from people all the time.”
Tracey and Victor
Tracey’s boyfriend, Victor, lives in a local trailer park with about 30 other mobile homes. The trailer is a single-wide home with three small bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. In the living room, there is a large television, couch, and coffee table. The door latch to the home is broken and held shut with a coat hanger.
Tracey’s relationship with Victor has recently become more serious, and she is spending more time at his house. One night, Victor returned home drunk and high on crack cocaine. He and Tracey began arguing and he severely beat Tracey. She was later hospitalized for her injuries.
Shawn has never gotten along with Victor and, upon learning of the beating, became enraged. Shawn informed his father, who was recently released from prison, and the two decide to go to Victor’s house to confront him. The confrontation quickly escalated.
Victor attacked Joseph, wrestling him to the floor, and began punching him in the face. Shawn saw an aluminum baseball bat in the corner and hit Victor in the head with it. Victor collapsed and Joseph was able to stand up. Joseph took the bat from Shawn and hit Victor in the head five more times, as he laid face-down on the floor. Victor died, and the autopsy indicated that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. Shawn and Joseph were arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
PART ONE: In 900 words, using Keen family case study
- Complete separate risk assessments of Joseph and Shawn Keen. Be sure to address the following areas in each assessment and use theories covered in the course to justify your responses. Based on your assessments, indicate the likelihood that Joseph and Shawn will re-offend.
- History of antisocial behavior
- Antisocial personality pattern
- Antisocial cognition
- Antisocial associates
- Family/marital circumstances
- School/work
- Leisure/recreation
- Substance abuse
- Based on your assessments of Joseph and Shawn, justify specific interventions that could be used in correctional and probationary settings to reduce each offender’s rate of recidivism.
- Explain how the murder of Victor could have been prevented.
PART TWO: In 200 words explain
- If violence in the Keen Family case had involved a firearm would red flag laws have affected the outcome? Why or why not?
- To what degree are red flag laws constitutional?
- Do current criminal justice policies and practices (such as red flag laws and others) address the root causes of crime?
- If not, what changes would you recommend?
- Use one example from the Keen Family case study to show how a different policy or practice may have changed an outcome in that case.