Title
Risk-Needs Assessment in Juvenile Justice: Predictive Validity of the SAVRY, Racial Differences, and the Contribution of Needs Factors
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Psychiatry
Date
1-30-2011
Document Type
Article
Medical Subject Headings
Violence; Juvenile Delinquency; Mental Disorders; Adolescent; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Risk Assessment
Disciplines
Health Services Research | Mental and Social Health | Psychiatric and Mental Health | Psychiatry | Psychiatry and Psychology
Abstract
The authors conducted a prospective study of the predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) using a 5-year follow-up period and a sample of 480 male adolescents assessed by juvenile detention personnel. Analyses were conducted to examine differential validity by race-ethnicity, the relative contribution of structured professional judgments of risk level, and the incremental validity of dynamic to static risk factors. Overall, the SAVRY total scores were significantly predictive of any type of reoffending with some variability across racial-ethnic groups. Youths rated as moderate to high risk by evaluators using structured professional judgment had greater odds of rearrest, but these risk ratings did not have incremental validity over numeric scores. Static factors were most strongly predictive of nonviolent rearrest, but dynamic factors (social-contextual) were the most predictive of violent rearrest. Implications for use of risk-needs assessment tools in juvenile justice programs and areas in need of further investigation are discussed.
Rights and Permissions
Citation: Gina M. Vincent, John Chapman, and Nathan E. Cook. Risk-Needs Assessment in Juvenile Justice: Predictive Validity of the SAVRY, Racial Differences, and the Contribution of Needs Factors. Criminal Justice and Behavior, January 2011 38: 42-62, doi:10.1177/0093854810386000
