Case Study Of Sarah Paino's Sacrifice

On January 22nd 2016, a teenager (whose name has not been identified) killed a pregnant mother, Sarah Paino, in an incident of reckless driving. Following his sentence, the shocking event that took place in Hobart was recently featured in the news media. Burgess (2016) reported that the teenager had portrayed alarmingly hazardous driving in a stolen four-wheel drive. As a result of his delinquent behaviour and reckless driving, a pregnant mother died at the crime scene while the baby and the two-year-old son, who was in the back seat of the car, miraculously survived the car crash. It was detected that the teenager was travelling at an extremely fast speed of 160 kilometres per hour and thus, crashed into Paino’s car at an intersection. Hence,

Justice Helen Wood described the event as “chillingly dangerous,” (Burgess, 2016) and also stated that the teenager was apologetic about his actions. It has been suggested that the teenager’s attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and his intellectual disability may have an effect on his decision making and thus, led to his rash driving and manslaughter. However, it was revealed through psychiatric assessment that he was intellectually capable of recognising the severe nature and consequence of his crime and concluded to be completely accountable for the crime he committed. The boy’s identity was hidden for legal reasons and thus, details about the teenager excluding his age and intellectual disability were not revealed. This provided limitations within the article in addressing the factors that could have resulted in his actions. However, it has been implied that his behaviour is that of an irresponsible typical teenager. (Abey,

In today’s society, teenagers experience a sense of alienation caused by a lack of understanding portrayed by families and thus, usually try to overcome this through deviant and hazardous behaviour (Weatherburn, 2001). Hence, the 16-year-old boy may have used this unhealthy form of self-expression to establish a sense of edge and participated in this extreme act of risk-taking to experience exhilaration and emotional arousal as theorised by Lyng (2005). It was mentioned within the article that he had “struggled in the past with boundaries” (Burgess, 2016) and hence this correlates with Lyng and Matthew’s (2007) theory that individual’s possess this intense craving to push the limits by taking risks. Additionally, as the teenager was travelling at an intense speed, it can be suggested that his behaviour involved self-assurance that he can defy the cultural boundaries and avoid an accident and