Evaluation for Risk of Violence in Juveniles
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EVALUATION FOR RISK OF
VIOLENCE IN JUVENILES
ROBERT D. HOGE
AND D. A. ANDREWS
1
2010
1
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ISBN 978-0-19-537041-6
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Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
About Best Practices in Forensic Mental
Health Assessment
The recent growth in the fields of forensic psychology and forensic
psychiatry has created a need for this book series describing best
practices in forensic mental health assessment (FMHA). Currently,
forensic evaluations are conducted by mental health professionals for
a variety of criminal, civil, and juvenile legal questions. The research
foundation supporting these assessments has become broader and
deeper in recent decades. Consensus has become clearer on the
recognition of essential requirements for ethical and professional
conduct. In the larger context of the current emphasis on ‘‘empirically
supported’’ assessment and intervention in psychiatry and psychology,
the specialization of FMHA has advanced sufficiently to justify a series
devoted to best practices. Although this series focuses mainly on
evaluations conducted by psychologists and psychiatrists, the
fundamentals and principles offered also apply to evaluations conducted
by clinical social workers, psychiatric nurses, and other mental health
professionals.
This series describes ‘‘best practice’’ as empirically supported (when
the relevant research is available), legally relevant, and consistent with
applicable ethical and professional standards. Authors of the books in this
series identify the approaches that seem best, while incorporating what is
practical and acknowledging that best practice represents a goal to which
the forensic clinician should aspire, rather than a standard that can always
be met. The American Academy of Forensic Psychology assisted the
editors in enlisting the consultation of board-certified forensic
psychologists specialized in each topic area. Board-certified forensic
psychiatrists were also consultants on many of the volumes. Their
comments on the manuscripts helped to ensure that the methods
described in these volumes represent a generally accepted view of
best practice.
The series’ authors were selected for their specific expertise in
a particular area. At the broadest level, however, certain general
principles apply to all types of forensic evaluations. Rather than repeat
those fundamental principles in every volume, the series offers them in
the first volume, Foundations of Forensic Mental Health Assessment.
Reading the first book, followed by a specific topical book, will provide
the reader both the general principles that the specific topic shares with
all forensic evaluations and those that are particular to the specific
assessment question.
The specific topics of the 19 books were selected by the series
editors as the most important and oft-considered areas of forensic
assessment conducted by mental health professionals and behavioral
scientists. Each of the 19 topical books is organized according to a
common template. The authors address the applicable legal context,
forensic mental health concepts, and empirical foundations and limits in
v
vi About Best Practices in Forensic Mental Health Assessment
the ‘‘Foundation’’ part of the book. They then describe preparation for
the evaluation, data collection, data interpretation, and report writing
and testimony in the ‘‘Application’’ part of the book. This creates a fairly
uniform approach to considering these areas across different topics. All
authors in this series have attempted to be as concise as possible in
addressing best practice in their area. In addition, topical volumes
feature elements to make them user friendly in actual practice. These
elements include boxes that highlight especially important information,
relevant case law, best-practice guidelines, and cautions against
common pitfalls. A glossary of key terms is also provided in each volume.
We hope the series will be useful for different groups of individuals.
Practicing forensic clinicians will find succinct, current information
relevant to their practice. Those who are in training to specialize in
FMHA (whether in formal training or in the process of respecialization)
should find helpful the combination of broadly applicable
considerations presented in the first volume together with the more
specific aspects of other volumes in the series. Those who teach and
supervise trainees can offer these volumes as a guide for practices to
which the trainee can aspire. Researchers and scholars interested in
FMHA best practice may find researchable ideas, particularly on topics
that have received insufficient research attention to date. Judges and
attorneys with questions about FMHA best practice will find these books
relevant and concise. Clinical and forensic administrators who run
agencies, court clinics, and hospitals in which litigants are assessed may
also use some of the books in this series to establish expectancies for
evaluations performed by professionals in their agencies.
We also anticipate that the 19 specific books in this series will serve
as reference works that help courts and attorneys evaluate the quality of
forensic mental health professionals’ evaluations. A word of caution is in
order, however. These volumes focus on best practice, not what is
minimally acceptable legally or ethically. Courts involved in malpractice
litigation, or ethics committees or licensure boards considering
complaints, should not expect that materials describing best practice
easily or necessarily translate into the minimally acceptable professional
conduct that is typically at issue in such proceedings.
This book describes the important developments in violence risk
assessment with juveniles, particularly over the last two decades. It does
not address risk assessment with either adults or sexual offenders, as
both are described in other books in this series. It does place juvenile
risk assessment within the context of FMHA for juveniles, so those using
it will find it particularly useful to incorporate into their evaluations of risk
and needs for adolescents in the juvenile justice system.
Kirk Heilbrun
Thomas Grisso
Alan M. Goldstein
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the following for their editorial advice and
support: Kirk Heilbrun, Thomas Grisso, Randy Borum, and Julia
TerMaat. Their help has been invaluable in the preparation of this book.
vii
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Contents
FOUNDATION
Chapter 1 The Legal Context 3
Chapter 2 Forensic Mental Health Concepts 25
Chapter 3 Empirical Foundations and Limits 45
APPLICATION
Chapter 4 Preparation for the Evaluation 71
Chapter 5 Data Collection 93
Chapter 6 Interpretation 113
Chapter 7 Report Writing and Testimony 127
References 139
Tests and Specialized Tools 153
Cases and Statutes 159
Key Terms 161
Index 165
About the Authors 171
ix
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FOUNDATION
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The Legal Context
1
T he goal of this volume is to provide guidelines for the assess-
ment and management of violent actions on the part of ado-
lescents. This involves, first, formulating rules and procedures for
identifying and measuring individual and circumstantial factors pre-
disposing a youth to engage in aggressive actions. This is the risk
assessment part of the task. Second, once the factors associated with
increased risk for violence are identified, interventions to reduce the
level of risk can be developed. This is the case management part of the
task. This volume addresses these goals and references recent psy-
chological and criminological research on juvenile criminal activity.
Chapter 2 provides a discussion of the various forms of violent
acts, but it should be acknowledged here that a wide range of
actions can be subsumed under this label. The acts can vary in
terms of context, motivation, and severity of consequences.
A school-yard fist fight and an act of violence conducted during a
sexual assault constitute very different challenges for risk assessment
and management as we will see in subsequent discussions.
This chapter is designed to discuss the larger legal and social
contexts within which violence risk and management assessments are
conducted. The discussion is based on a recognition of the absence
of case law directly relevant to the judicial treatment of the young
offender. It begins with background information, an introduction to
alternative models of juvenile justice, and a brief discussion of juve-
nile justice systems in the United States. This is followed by discus-
sions of rates and prevalence of violent crime and of public
perceptions of violent youth crime. The various decision areas
encountered in juvenile justice systems are reviewed, along with
information about the role of risks and needs assessments in those
3
4 Foundation
decisions. Finally, a review of principles of best practice is presented
as background to case planning and management of violent youth.
Background Information
Prediction and Management
Heilbrun (1997) distinguishes between two goals within the legal
decision-making context: prediction and risk management.
Prediction refers to providing estimates of the likelihood that the
individual will engage in a particular action in the future. In the
present case the concern is with estimating a youth’s chances of
committing an act of violence in the future. Prediction is important
for a range of forensic decisions, including civil commitment,
waivers to the adult criminal system, pretrial detention, and senten-
cing. In all of those cases the court may be seeking guidance on the
probability of a future act of aggression.
Management decisions are directed toward the reduction of
risk factors. In this case the concern is not only with formulating a
prediction about future behavior but also with identifying risk
factors that can be altered to reduce the probability of committing
a violent act. Information pertaining to case management is relevant
where the judicial system will have continued contact with the
youth through, for example, probation or custody, and where
intervention services can be offered.
As Heilbrun indicates, prediction and management decisions are
closely related to one another. However, the management process is
more dynamic than that of prediction because the concern is with
changes over time. Further, reporting information about case plan-
ning and management is different in the sense that it requires a broader
range of information about the
INFO youth than does prediction. The
latter simply requires some estimate
The two goals of legal decision
of the likelihood of reoffending.
making are
. prediction of future violence
Risk/Needs Model
. management of risk factors
The terminology of this volume
will follow a Risk/Needs model
The Legal Context 5
INFO of juvenile justice
Information relevant to case processing (Andrews &
management includes Bonta, 2006; Andrews,
. dynamic risk factors Bonta, & Hoge, 1990;
. responsivity factors Hoge & Andrews,
1996). Risk assessment 1
. protective or strength factors chapter
refers to the collection
and synthesis of infor-
mation relevant to eval-
uating the youth’s risk
for antisocial actions. This forms the basis for risk predictions. Needs
assessment refers to the collection and synthesis of information on
dynamic risk factors, that is, risk factors that can be changed and, if
changed, that will reduce the likelihood of antisocial actions.
Examples include negative peer associations, impulsivity, and antiso-
cial attitudes and values. Needs assessment forms the basis for case
management decisions.
Responsivity and Strength
The constructs of responsivity and strength are also relevant for
management decision making. The concept of responsivity
includes factors referring to the characteristics of the youth or
her circumstances that, though not directly related to the criminal
activity, should be taken into account in case planning. Examples
include readiness for treatment, reading ability, or a mood dis-
order. The construct also includes the rule that modes and stra-
tegies of service offered the youth should match the
characteristics of the youth. Protective or strength factors refer
to variables that may serve to ameliorate the effects of risk.
Examples include a mature personality, interest in a sport, or a
cooperative parent. These factors are relevant to case planning
and management as well.
Alternative Models of Juvenile Justice
Table 1.1 presents an outline of five models for describing
juvenile justice systems. All models espouse the same goal: the
6 Foundation
Table 1.1 Models of Juvenile Justice
Child Welfare
Focus on developing competencies in the youth and addressing situational
problems; services delivered in judicial system with cooperation of external
educational, mental health, and social services; de-emphasis of punitive
sanctions in favor of rehabilitative efforts.
Corporatist
Focus on diversion from juvenile justice system and providing rehabilitative
services through the educational, mental health, and social service systems.
Justice
Emphasis on the processing of the youth within a judicial system with primary
concern for protecting individual rights and insuring that legally mandated
procedures are observed; some concern for rehabilitation but focus
generally on promoting individual responsibility through the use of punitive
correctional sanctions.
Modified Justice
Rehabilitative and punitive services delivered through the juvenile justice
system; emphasis on formal judicial processing; effort to achieve a balance
between rehabilitative and punitive strategies.
Crime Control
Focus on providing protection to society through the use of punitive
sanctions; primary concern with offense rather than offender; punitive
sanctions preferred, with the sanction often based on retributive or just
deserts considerations.
Note. From Corrado, R. R. (1992). Introduction. In R. R. Corrado, N. Bala, R. Linden, &
M. Le Blanc (Eds.), Juvenile justice in Canada: A theoretical and analytical assessment
(pp. 1–20). Toronto: Buttersworth.
deterrence of criminal actions on the part of youth.
However, the models differ in assumptions about the optimal
means for achieving that goal and consequently the preferred
procedures for the processing and treatment of the youthful
offender. The models can be represented on a continuum
