The Impact of Risk Assessment on Juvenile Justice Decision-Making and New Adjudication: An Analysis of Usage and Outcome

IF 1.5 1区社会学 Q2 CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice Pub Date : 2021-12-28 DOI:10.1177/15412040211061270

Amber A. Petkus, Christopher J. Sullivan, Melissa Lugo, Jamie Newsome

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Juvenile risk and needs assessments (JRNAs) have been the focus of extensive research in the academic literature. Prior studies have primarily focused on the risk-recidivism relationship and establishing predictive validity with juvenile populations. Less investigated is the use of risk and need assessment in practice, including how such tools are used to inform decision-making. This study uses record data encompassing 3,034 youth from a multi-state study to examine dispositional and treatment decisions associated with the Ohio Youth Assessment System (OYAS). Specifically, mediation analyses were conducted to evaluate how current practices align with underlying logic and theory regarding the role of assessments in juvenile justice. Findings reveal varied and complex relationships between assessment scores, case decisions, and recidivism. While risk was generally associated with recidivism, our results suggest juvenile risk and need assessments are inconsistently used to inform case management and placement decisions. Implications for practice and future research are also discussed.

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风险评估对未成年人司法决策和新判决的影响——使用和结果分析

青少年风险和需求评估（JRNA）一直是学术文献中广泛研究的焦点。先前的研究主要集中在风险-累犯关系和建立青少年人群的预测有效性。较少调查的是在实践中使用风险和需求评估，包括如何使用这些工具为决策提供信息。这项研究使用了来自一项多州研究的3034名青年的记录数据，以检验与俄亥俄州青年评估系统（OYAS）相关的性格和治疗决策。具体而言，进行了调解分析，以评估当前的做法如何与关于评估在少年司法中的作用的基本逻辑和理论相一致。调查结果揭示了评估分数、案件判决和累犯之间的各种复杂关系。虽然风险通常与累犯有关，但我们的研究结果表明，青少年的风险和需求评估在为案件管理和安置决定提供信息时并不一致。还讨论了对实践和未来研究的启示。

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来源期刊

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY-

CiteScore

6.90

自引率

10.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice: An Interdisciplinary Journal provides academics and practitioners in juvenile justice and related fields with a resource for publishing current empirical research on programs, policies, and practices in the areas of youth violence and juvenile justice. Emphasis is placed on such topics as serious and violent juvenile offenders, juvenile offender recidivism, institutional violence, and other relevant topics to youth violence and juvenile justice such as risk assessment, psychopathy, self-control, and gang membership, among others. Decided emphasis is placed on empirical research with specific implications relevant to juvenile justice process, policy, and administration. Interdisciplinary in scope, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice serves a diverse audience of academics and practitioners in the fields of criminal justice, education, psychology, social work, behavior analysis, sociology, law, counseling, public health, and all others with an interest in youth violence and juvenile justice.