TRAP-18 indicators validated through the forensic linguistic analysis of targeted violence manifestos
Analyses 30 written and spoken manifestos authored by lone offenders who planned or committed targeted attacks (1974-2021), testing whether the behavior-based TRAP-18 threat-assessment instrument can be coded from language evidence alone. Finds 17 of 18 indicators codable from text.
Publisher
Journal of Threat Assessment and Management (American Psychological Association)
Published
1 Dec 2021
Added
today
Key Findings
- 17 of 18 TRAP-18 threat-assessment indicators (94%) were codable from linguistic evidence alone
- Leakage, identification, fixation, and last-resort were the most frequent proximal warning behaviors
- Structured threat-assessment warning behaviors are detectable from written/spoken communication
Methodology Notes
Peer-reviewed, Journal of Threat Assessment and Management 8(4):174-199 (issue December 2021; exact day not stated), DOI 10.1037/tam0000165. Forensic-linguistic coding of a 30-manifesto sample; qualitative/descriptive.
Sources
Authors
Julia Kupper, J. Reid Meloy
Tags
Cite This
APA
Julia Kupper, J. Reid Meloy (2021). TRAP-18 indicators validated through the forensic linguistic analysis of targeted violence manifestos. Journal of Threat Assessment and Management (American Psychological Association). https://doi.org/10.1037/tam0000165
Related Insights
Risk prediction using natural language processing of electronic mental health records in an inpatient forensic psychiatry setting
Journal of Biomedical Informatics (Elsevier) · 1 Oct 2018
Are Natural Language Processing Tools Ready for Predicting Violence Toward Self or Others?
Psychiatric Annals (SLACK Incorporated) · 1 Apr 2026