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Assessment, II. Risk
The term at-risk juveniles could be used to identify juveniles who are at risk for dropping out of school, getting pregnant, getting involved in drugs, becoming delinquent, or engaging in school violence. All those factors can be directly or indirectly involved in sending the juvenile into the juvenile justice system or the adult system. Risk assessment in the criminal justice system is a process of determining the risk that an offender would recidivate, which is not the same concept as dangerousness.
Recidivism can refer to reoffending, being reincarcerated, or attending an additional court referral after the initial offense. For instance, recidivism in parole can refer to an offender committing a new violation of law or to an offender being reincarcerated due to violating the technical requirements of parole, such as failing a drug test, violating curfew, or not maintaining employment.
Defining and Measuring Risk
Typically, risk factors are either static, dynamic, or environmental. Static risk factors, the most common of the three types, are fixed and unchangeable. These factors usually involve an offender's criminal record such as the age that an offender was first arrested (the younger the age, the higher the recidivism rate), the total number of arrests, the number of felony convictions, and the number of times an offender has failed on probation or parole. These factors are used most often in an initial risk assessment. The more factors an offender has working against her or him, the higher is the risk that she or he will violate the law again. Because criminal history variables are so important to assessment, this presents a challenge to those in the juvenile justice system—juveniles have less history to evaluate.
Dynamic risk factors, such as antisocial attitudes and behaviors, can be changed, thus a successful strategy focuses on assessing dynamic risks and meeting the needs underlying them. Juveniles may need counseling, substance abuse treatment, life-skills development, or job placement assistance. Research has found that intervention strategies focusing on cognitive or behavioral approaches work better than person-centered therapies. Additionally, programs that provide intensive services (lasting at least three to nine months), work on developing prosocial networks (such as a juvenile wilderness retreat), and are centered on the learning style of the offender can serve to reduce the risk of recidivism.
An additional risk factor is the offender's environmental circumstances. Family bonds, including drug abuse by family members, criminal history of family members, and residential instability, are often key factors determining risk. Additionally, factors related to education and employment, such as low IQ, poor educational attainment, and frequent unemployment, have been found to be critical ingredients in recidivism.
Risk Instruments
Risk assessment can be done informally, usually by probation officers or parole agents. Although sometimes necessary in emergencies, informal risk assessment is less valid and reliable than is formal assessment.
The most common form of formal risk assessment is a risk prediction scale, a checklist that adds an offender's scores on certain variables. This score is compared with those of previous offenders who have violated in the past to determine an overall risk of recidivism. Formal risk assessment instruments usually classify youths' risk of reoffending as high, medium, or low. Two well-known examples of risk assessment instruments are the Canadian Level of Supervision Inventory (LSI), an intensive, interview-based approach; and the Wisconsin model, an actuarial approach. Clinical assessment also may be made with standardized measures, such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).
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- Delinquency Theories and Theorists
- Albert Cohen
- Biological Theories
- Clifford Shaw
- Cycle of Violence
- Edwin Sutherland
- Fredrick Thrasher
- Henry McKay
- James Short
- Joan McCord
- Lamar T. Empey
- Lloyd Ohlin
- Marvin Wolfgang
- Psychological Theories
- Richard Cloward
- Ruth Shonle Cavan
- Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck
- Sociological Theories
- Solomon Kobrin
- Stanley G. Hall
- Thorsten Sellin
- Travis Hirschi
- Walter Miller
- Walter Reckless
- Historical References: People and Projects
- Delinquent Behavior
- Treatment and Interventions for Delinquency
- Aftercare
- Alternative Schools
- Assessment
- Boot Camps
- Boys and girls Clubs
- community action boards
- Culturally Specific Programming
- curfews
- DARE
- Detention Facilities
- family therapy
- Group Homes
- group therapy
- mediation
- out of home placement
- police responses to delinquency
- Prevention strategies
- probation
- Scared Straight
- Teen courts
- victim offender
- Wilderness Programs
- Juvenile Law and Legislative Initiatives
- California Street Terrorism Enforcement & Prevention
- California Youth Authority
- Death Penalty
- Diversion
- Foster Care
- Guardian Ad Litem
- Juvenile Courts
- Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
- Juvenile Law
- National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges
- National Council on Crime & Delinquency
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
- parens patriae
- Parental liability laws
- Waivers to Adult Court
- Juvenile Issues and Public Policy
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