Juvenile Risk Assessment
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"Typically, the juvenile sexual offender comes to the attention of the clinician only after having first come to the
attention of someone else. The major task at referral is to determine to what extent the behavior is situationally
determined and to what degree it is symptomatic in nature (i.e., to differentiate normative sexual activity which
is situationally determined from inappropriate, solitary sexual activity of a nonaggressive nature and from sexually
assaultive behavior that poses some risk of harm to another person). Eight basic issues need to be carefully assessed:
the age relationship of victim and offender, the social relationship, the type of sexual activity exhibited, how the sexual
contact takes place, the persistence of the activity, evidence of progression in regard to nature or frequency of the
activity, the nature of the juveniles' fantasies prior to or accompanying the behavior, and distinguishing victim
characteristics. The behavior must also be examined in regard to the offenders' personality development and past and
in the context of their current lives, as well as with respect to retardation, drugs, mental illness, etc. Such careful
psychological assessment by schools, courts, clinics, and other related agencies can lead to a better understanding
of juvenile sexual offenders."
Juvenile Sexual Offenders - Guidelines for Assessment – A. N. Groth; C. M. Loredo
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Vol. 25, Iss. 1, Pages:31-39
There is a website called juvenilesexoffenders.com, which provides additional resources including treatment materials, assessments, training resources, etc. that be helpful in understanding juvenile sexual offending.
Reading Materials
The Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) as part of it's task has developed the Sex Offender Management Assessment and Planning Initiative (SOMAPI), a project designed to assess the state of research and practice in sex offender management.
The SOMAPI addresses both adult and juvenile treatment for inappropriate or illegal sexual behavior. An introduction on juvenile assessments can be found here.
Juvenile Sex Offender Research Bibliography - U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) provides a comprehensive bibliography of scholarly research and literature relating to juveniles to demonstrate improper or illegal sexual behavior.
Juvenile Risk Assessments
Phil Rich, who was the Clinical Director of the Stetson School (a residential treatment program for sexually reactive children and adolescent and young adult sexual offenders in Massachusetts) for 13 years, has published several books that address the evaluation and rehabilitation of sexually abusive youth, as well as writing several articles and contributed to several books published by other noted professionals in the field.
In one of his publications, Understanding juvenile sexual offenders: Assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation. (2003), he provides 21 guidelines for the comprehensive assessment of sexually abusive youth. These guidelines can be seen here.
Basic Scientific Research to Assess Youth With Sexual Offending Behavior (CFDA No. 16.560) Addresses ongoing research in the assessment of juveniles who demonstrate improper or illegal sexual behavior.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) under the Adam Walsh Act is working with the the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to receive applications for basic research in the development and validation of a risk assessment tool with both static and dynamic factors designed for use in criminal and juvenile justice systems to estimate the short-term risk that juveniles with a history of sex offenses may re-offend.
The Center for Sex Offending Management (CSOM) has created a curricula to train both treatment professionals and law enforcement that addresses the unique issues in understanding and working with juvenile sexual offenders. As part of the curricula, there is specific information on the assessment tools that are used to determine the risk of juvenile offenders re-offending. This information can be found here.
Listed below is a brief description of the tools used in making juvenile risk assessments, some of which are mentioned on the CSOM website.
Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II (J-SOAP-II)
J-SOAP-II's purpose is to aid in the systematic review of risk factors that are identified as being associated with sexual and criminal offending. It is designed to used with boys in the age range of 12 to 18 years who have been adjudicated for sexual offenses, as well as non adjudicated youths with a history of sexually coercive behaviors.
ERASOR (Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offence Recidivism)
is an empirically-guided checklist to assist evaluators to estimate the short-term risk of a sexual reoffense for youth aged 12-18. The ERASOR was designed as a single-scale instrument, and the 25 risk factors that are evaluated fall under 5 headings: Sexual Interests, Attitudes, and Behaviors, Historical Sexual Assaults, Psychosocial Functioning, Family/Environmental Functioning, and Treatment. All risk factors are coded as either Present,Possibly/Present, Present, Not Present, or Unknown, and the coding manual outlines the specific coding criteria—in addition to the research/clinical support—for each factor.
Juvenile Risk Assessment Tool
The J-RAT is a structured clinical instrument designed to assess the risk for a sexual re-offense in adolescent males, ages 12-18 up to 19th birthday, who have or are alleged to have engaged in prior sexually abusive behavior. It is not designed to be used to evaluate younger children, adults, or females.
It is not possible to assess risk in the absence of previous sexually abusive behavior. Under these circumstances, it is not possible to assess risk for a re-offense.
Psychopathy Checklist – Youth Version (PCL-Y)
is a 20-item rating scale for the assessment of psychopathic traits in male and female offenders aged 12 to 18.
Adapted from the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), the most widely used measure of psychopathy in adults, the PCL:YV uses an expert-rater format that emphasizes the need for multi-domain and multisource information. Using a semi-structured interview and collateral information, the PCL:YV measures interpersonal, affective, and behavioral features related to a widely understood, traditional concept of psychopathy. The PCL:YV yields dimensional scores for clinical purposes.
SAVRY (Structured Assessment of Violence Risk In Youth)
is a risk assessment tool composed of 24 items in three risk domains (Historical Risk Factors, Social/Contextual Risk Factors, and Individual/Clinical Factors), drawn from existing research and the professional literature on adolescent development as well as on violence and aggression in youth. Each risk item has a three-level rating structure with specific rating guidelines (Low, Moderate, or High). In addition to the 24 risk factors, the SAVRY also includes six Protective Factor items that are rated as either Present or Absent.
The SAVRY is useful in the assessment of either male or female adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years. It may be used by professionals in a variety of disciplines who conduct assessments and/or make intervention/supervision plans concerning violence risk in youth.
The SAVRY is not designed to be a formal test or scale; there are no assigned numerical values nor are there any specified cutoff scores. Based on the structured professional judgment (SPJ) model, the SAVRY helps assist in structuring an assessment so that the important factors will not be missed and, thus, will be emphasized when formulating a final professional judgment about a youth's level of risk.
YLSI (Youth Level of Service Inventory/Case Management Strategy)
is a 43-item quantitative survey of attributes of offenders and their situations, relevant to level of supervision and treatment decisions for persons aged 12 - 18. The YLS/CMI helps predict probation outcome, success in correctional placements, institutional misconducts, and recidivism.
The YLS/CMI can be used by probation officers, parole officers, and correctional workers at jails, detention facilities, and correctional halfway houses. It can be used to: 1) provide a convenient record of factors to be reviewed as a quantitative decision aid in case classification, and 2) to assist in the appropriate allocation of resources.
Specific criteria provided by the YLS/CMI can be used to help you: 1) make decisions regarding probation, 2) make decisions regarding placements, and 3) make appropriate security level classifications.
If there is an assessment that you need information on that is not shown above, please contact us using our Contact Us page or by email to [email protected]
"Typically, the juvenile sexual offender comes to the attention of the clinician only after having first come to the
attention of someone else. The major task at referral is to determine to what extent the behavior is situationally
determined and to what degree it is symptomatic in nature (i.e., to differentiate normative sexual activity which
is situationally determined from inappropriate, solitary sexual activity of a nonaggressive nature and from sexually
assaultive behavior that poses some risk of harm to another person). Eight basic issues need to be carefully assessed:
the age relationship of victim and offender, the social relationship, the type of sexual activity exhibited, how the sexual
contact takes place, the persistence of the activity, evidence of progression in regard to nature or frequency of the
activity, the nature of the juveniles' fantasies prior to or accompanying the behavior, and distinguishing victim
characteristics. The behavior must also be examined in regard to the offenders' personality development and past and
in the context of their current lives, as well as with respect to retardation, drugs, mental illness, etc. Such careful
psychological assessment by schools, courts, clinics, and other related agencies can lead to a better understanding
of juvenile sexual offenders."
Juvenile Sexual Offenders - Guidelines for Assessment – A. N. Groth; C. M. Loredo
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Vol. 25, Iss. 1, Pages:31-39
There is a website called juvenilesexoffenders.com, which provides additional resources including treatment materials, assessments, training resources, etc. that be helpful in understanding juvenile sexual offending.
Reading Materials
The Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) as part of it's task has developed the Sex Offender Management Assessment and Planning Initiative (SOMAPI), a project designed to assess the state of research and practice in sex offender management.
The SOMAPI addresses both adult and juvenile treatment for inappropriate or illegal sexual behavior. An introduction on juvenile assessments can be found here.
Juvenile Sex Offender Research Bibliography - U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) provides a comprehensive bibliography of scholarly research and literature relating to juveniles to demonstrate improper or illegal sexual behavior.
Juvenile Risk Assessments
Phil Rich, who was the Clinical Director of the Stetson School (a residential treatment program for sexually reactive children and adolescent and young adult sexual offenders in Massachusetts) for 13 years, has published several books that address the evaluation and rehabilitation of sexually abusive youth, as well as writing several articles and contributed to several books published by other noted professionals in the field.
In one of his publications, Understanding juvenile sexual offenders: Assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation. (2003), he provides 21 guidelines for the comprehensive assessment of sexually abusive youth. These guidelines can be seen here.
Basic Scientific Research to Assess Youth With Sexual Offending Behavior (CFDA No. 16.560) Addresses ongoing research in the assessment of juveniles who demonstrate improper or illegal sexual behavior.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) under the Adam Walsh Act is working with the the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to receive applications for basic research in the development and validation of a risk assessment tool with both static and dynamic factors designed for use in criminal and juvenile justice systems to estimate the short-term risk that juveniles with a history of sex offenses may re-offend.
The Center for Sex Offending Management (CSOM) has created a curricula to train both treatment professionals and law enforcement that addresses the unique issues in understanding and working with juvenile sexual offenders. As part of the curricula, there is specific information on the assessment tools that are used to determine the risk of juvenile offenders re-offending. This information can be found here.
Listed below is a brief description of the tools used in making juvenile risk assessments, some of which are mentioned on the CSOM website.
Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II (J-SOAP-II)
J-SOAP-II's purpose is to aid in the systematic review of risk factors that are identified as being associated with sexual and criminal offending. It is designed to used with boys in the age range of 12 to 18 years who have been adjudicated for sexual offenses, as well as non adjudicated youths with a history of sexually coercive behaviors.
ERASOR (Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offence Recidivism)
is an empirically-guided checklist to assist evaluators to estimate the short-term risk of a sexual reoffense for youth aged 12-18. The ERASOR was designed as a single-scale instrument, and the 25 risk factors that are evaluated fall under 5 headings: Sexual Interests, Attitudes, and Behaviors, Historical Sexual Assaults, Psychosocial Functioning, Family/Environmental Functioning, and Treatment. All risk factors are coded as either Present,Possibly/Present, Present, Not Present, or Unknown, and the coding manual outlines the specific coding criteria—in addition to the research/clinical support—for each factor.
Juvenile Risk Assessment Tool
The J-RAT is a structured clinical instrument designed to assess the risk for a sexual re-offense in adolescent males, ages 12-18 up to 19th birthday, who have or are alleged to have engaged in prior sexually abusive behavior. It is not designed to be used to evaluate younger children, adults, or females.
It is not possible to assess risk in the absence of previous sexually abusive behavior. Under these circumstances, it is not possible to assess risk for a re-offense.
Psychopathy Checklist – Youth Version (PCL-Y)
is a 20-item rating scale for the assessment of psychopathic traits in male and female offenders aged 12 to 18.
Adapted from the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), the most widely used measure of psychopathy in adults, the PCL:YV uses an expert-rater format that emphasizes the need for multi-domain and multisource information. Using a semi-structured interview and collateral information, the PCL:YV measures interpersonal, affective, and behavioral features related to a widely understood, traditional concept of psychopathy. The PCL:YV yields dimensional scores for clinical purposes.
SAVRY (Structured Assessment of Violence Risk In Youth)
is a risk assessment tool composed of 24 items in three risk domains (Historical Risk Factors, Social/Contextual Risk Factors, and Individual/Clinical Factors), drawn from existing research and the professional literature on adolescent development as well as on violence and aggression in youth. Each risk item has a three-level rating structure with specific rating guidelines (Low, Moderate, or High). In addition to the 24 risk factors, the SAVRY also includes six Protective Factor items that are rated as either Present or Absent.
The SAVRY is useful in the assessment of either male or female adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years. It may be used by professionals in a variety of disciplines who conduct assessments and/or make intervention/supervision plans concerning violence risk in youth.
The SAVRY is not designed to be a formal test or scale; there are no assigned numerical values nor are there any specified cutoff scores. Based on the structured professional judgment (SPJ) model, the SAVRY helps assist in structuring an assessment so that the important factors will not be missed and, thus, will be emphasized when formulating a final professional judgment about a youth's level of risk.
YLSI (Youth Level of Service Inventory/Case Management Strategy)
is a 43-item quantitative survey of attributes of offenders and their situations, relevant to level of supervision and treatment decisions for persons aged 12 - 18. The YLS/CMI helps predict probation outcome, success in correctional placements, institutional misconducts, and recidivism.
The YLS/CMI can be used by probation officers, parole officers, and correctional workers at jails, detention facilities, and correctional halfway houses. It can be used to: 1) provide a convenient record of factors to be reviewed as a quantitative decision aid in case classification, and 2) to assist in the appropriate allocation of resources.
Specific criteria provided by the YLS/CMI can be used to help you: 1) make decisions regarding probation, 2) make decisions regarding placements, and 3) make appropriate security level classifications.
If there is an assessment that you need information on that is not shown above, please contact us using our Contact Us page or by email to [email protected]