Probation Officer Assessments of Risk when the Youth Look Different: Contributions of Structured Professional Judgment to Concerns About Racial Bias

IF 1.5 1区社会学 Q2 CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice Pub Date : 2020-09-21 DOI:10.1177/1541204020954264

Carla G. Munoz, Rachael T Perrault, G. Vincent

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Various groups have expressed considerable concern about the potential for actuarial risk assessments to exacerbate racial disparities in justice settings. This study examined that potential when using a different approach to risk assessment, structured professional judgment (SPJ), by comparing risk decisions made by evaluators when the examinee’s race was different versus the same as theirs. A large sample of youth (N = 1,308) evaluated on the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) by 137 juvenile probation officers (JPOs) in five states indicated the only moderation effect for the match or mismatch between JPOs’ and youths’ race/ethnicity was in the weight JPOs placed on five (out of 24) risk factors in their overall risk opinions. The match between JPOs' and youths' race had no bearing on JPOs’ final determination of youths’ risk levels. This study lends support for investigating the use of SPJ instruments as a method for minimizing racial bias.

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缓刑监督官对年轻人长相不同时风险的评估：结构化专业判断对种族偏见担忧的贡献

各团体对精算风险评估可能加剧司法环境中的种族差异表示相当关切。这项研究通过比较评估人员在受试者种族不同与相同时做出的风险决策，检验了使用不同的风险评估方法，即结构化专业判断（SPJ）时的潜力。五个州的137名青少年缓刑监督官对青年暴力风险结构化评估（SAVRY）中的大量青年样本（N=1308）进行了评估，结果表明，青年缓刑监督官与青年种族/民族匹配或不匹配的唯一调节作用是在其总体风险意见中对五个（24个）风险因素的权重。初级专业人员和青少年种族之间的匹配与初级专业人员对青少年风险水平的最终决定无关。这项研究为调查使用SPJ工具作为最大限度减少种族偏见的方法提供了支持。

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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.