Professor Kelly Richards is a criminologist in the QUTC4J who researches primarily in the area of sexual offending and responses to it. She has an extensive research track record in the areas of restorative and innovative justice practices and sexual offending. In 2022, Kelly was awarded a four-year Australian Research Council Future Fellowship to examine the motivations of child sex offenders.
Kelly holds a PhD and a BA (First Class Honours) in criminology from Western Sydney University (WSU), as well as a Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice from QUT. Prior to joining QUT in 2013, she worked in the nongovernment and government sectors, including five years as a senior researcher at the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC).
From 2008 – 2012, Kelly was a Visiting Fellow in the Centre for Restorative Justice at the Australian National University. In 2010 she was named ACT Government Office for Women Audrey Fagan Churchill Fellow, and in 2020 she was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award.
‘Sexual offending is a wicked problem that will require innovative thinking, perseverance and courage to solve.
My passion is being part of the community of researchers, professionals and activists around the globe committed to this aim’.
Research projects
Book by Kelly Richards
Desistance From Sexual Offending
Richards, Kelly (2022) Desistance from sexual offending: The role of Circles of Support and Accountability. Routledge Studies in Crime and Society.
Book Chapters by Kelly Richards
Sympathy for the devil? Child sexual abuse, public opinion and the cycle-of-abuse theory
Richards, Kelly (2019) Sympathy for the devil? Child sexual abuse, public opinion and the cycle-of-abuse theory. In Lumby, C, Gleeson, K (Eds.), The age of consent: Young people, sexual abuse and agency, pp.101-115.
Beyond moral panic: Young people and fear of crime
Richards, Kelly, Lee, Murray (2018) Beyond moral panic : Young people and fear of crime. In Lee, M, Mythen, G (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook on Fear of Crime, pp.106-120.
citations on Scopus
Journal articles by Kelly Richards
Does Gender Matter?
McPhillips, Kathleen, McEwan, Tracy, Death, Jodi, Richards, Kelly (2022) Does gender matter? An analysis of the role and contribution of religious socialisation practices in the sexual abuse of boys and girls in the Catholic Church. Religion and Gender, 12 (1), pp.52-77.
Circles of Support and Accountability: A Proven Approach to Reducing Sexual Offending
Richards, Kelly, Driedger, Otto (2022) Circles of Support and Accountability: A Proven Approach to Reducing Sexual Offending. Advancing Corrections.
Towards redemption: Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander men’s narratives of desistance from sexual offending
Richards, Kelly, Death, Jodi, McCartan, Kieran (2020) Towards redemption: Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander men’s narratives of desistance from sexual offending. Victims and Offenders, 15 (6), pp.810-833.
3 citations on Web of Science- 1 citations on Scopus
Police officers' implicit theories of youth offending
Richards, Kelly (2020) Police officers' implicit theories of youth offending. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 53 (1), pp.8-24.
- 1 citations on Web of Science
- 1 citations on Scopus
Police perceptions of young people: A qualitative analysis
Richards, Kelly, Cross, Cassandra, Dwyer, Angela (2019) Police perceptions of young people: A qualitative analysis. Police Practice and Research, 20 (4), pp.360-375.
- 4 citations on Web of Science
- 5 citations on Scopus
Young people with cognitive disabilities and overrepresentation in the criminal justice system
Richards, Kelly, Ellem, Kathy (2019) Young people with cognitive disabilities and overrepresentation in the criminal justice system: service provider perspectives on policing. Police Practice and Research, 20 (2), pp.156-171.
- 6 citations on Scopus
Born this way? A qualitative examination of public perceptions of the causes of pedophilia and sexual offending against children
Richards, Kelly (2018) Born this way? A qualitative examination of public perceptions of the causes of pedophilia and sexual offending against children. Deviant Behavior, 39 (7), pp.835-851.
- 15 citations on Web of Science
- 14 citations on Scopus
Children's court magistrates' views of restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudence measures for young offenders
Richards, Kelly, Bartels, Lorana, Bolitho, Jane (2017) Children's court magistrates' views of restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudence measures for young offenders. Youth Justice, 17 (1), pp.22-40.
- 5 citations on Web of Science
- 5 citations on Scopus
Responsibilising the parents of young offenders through restorative justice: a genealogical account
Richards, Kelly (2017) Responsibilising the parents of young offenders through restorative justice: a genealogical account. Restorative Justice, 5 (1), pp.93-115.
- 2 citations on Web of Science
Indigenous young people and the NSW Children's Court: Magistrates perceptions of the court's criminal jurisdiction
Bartels, Lorana, Bolitho, Jane, Richards, Kelly (2016) Indigenous young people and the NSW Children's Court: Magistrates perceptions of the court's criminal jurisdiction. Australian Indigenous Law Review, 19 (2), pp.34-44.
Submissions by Kelly Richards
Submission to the Victoria Law Reform Commission's Sexual Offences Inquiry
Richards, Kelly, Death, Jodi, Ronken, Carol, Garrett, Leigh, Smallwood, Alfred, Hembrow, Graham, Fincham, Steven (2020) Submission to the Victoria Law Reform Commission's Sexual Offences Inquiry
Submission to the Parliament of Victoria Legal and Social Issues Committee’s Inquiry into Management of Child Sex Offender Information
Richards, Kelly (2020) Submission to the Parliament of Victoria Legal and Social Issues Committee’s Inquiry into Management of Child Sex Offender Information (Invited submission)
Submission to Victorian Law Reform Commission’s inquiry into Improving Response of the Justice System to Sexual Offences
Richards, Kelly, Death, Jodi, Ronken, Carol, Garrett, Leigh, Smallwood, Alfred, Hembrow, Graham, Fincham, Steven (2020) Submission to Victorian Law Reform Commission’s inquiry into Improving Response of the Justice System to Sexual Offences
Submission to the National Office for Child Safety’s National Strategy to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Final Development Consultation Paper
Richards, Kelly (2021) Submission to the National Office for Child Safety’s National Strategy to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Final Development Consultation Paper
Contact
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Professor Kelly Richards
Professor, Faculty of CI, Education & Social Justice