1st Edition
Juvenile Risk and Needs Assessment Theory, Research, Policy, and Practice
This book takes a comprehensive, analytic approach to understanding Juvenile Risk and Needs Assessment (JRNA), covering elements relevant to how the practice affects youths’ cases and the juvenile justice system. The work draws on both analysis of the extensive research on risk and needs assessment in the juvenile justice system as well as data from the authors’ recent work in the area.
Authors Sullivan and Childs have extensive experience in teaching about and doing research on the juvenile justice system, including multiple studies on juvenile risk and needs assessment tools and their implementation. This expansive, integrative book leaves readers with a realistic sense of "where things stand" on the theory, research, policy, and practice of JRNA. By bringing together existing ideas and assessing them in depth, it identifies possible future paths and sparks ideas for improving the juvenile justice response to delinquent and at-risk youths.
Juvenile Risk and Needs Assessment is essential reading for scholars of juvenile justice system impact and reform as well as practitioners engaged in youth and juvenile justice work ranging from the preventive to the rehabilitative stages.
Chapter 1: Risk and Needs Assessment and Effective Juvenile Justice Practice
The Scope of JRNA
Reaching Conclusions
Understudied Aspects of Juvenile Risk and Needs Assessment
A Settled Research Area?
Labels, Judgment, and Assessment of Youths
Research, Technology, and Fairness in JRNA Usage
A More Complete Consideration of JRNA
Chapter 2: Contemporary Juvenile Risk and Needs Assessment
JRNA Terminology
A Brief History of JRNA
Generations of Criminogenic Risk and Need Assessment Instruments
JRNA Process
The Various Functions of JRNA
Case Decisions and Performance
Agency Decisions and Optimal Performance
Studies of JRNA Performance
JRNA Validity Across Youth Subgroups
Summary of JRNA Predictive Validity Studies
The Limitations of JRNA Research
Chapter Summary
Chapter 3: Logic and Use of JRNA
Risk, Needs, and Responsivity
JRNA Logic Model
Inputs
Activities
Outputs
Outcomes
External Factors Influencing the Use of JRNA
Chapter Summary
Chapter 4: Implementation and Practice of Juvenile Risk and Needs Assessment
The Implementation Environment Surrounding JRNA
Outer Implementation Context: Public Infrastructure and JRNA Implementation
Inner Implementation Context: Agency and Staff Characteristics
Implementation Frameworks and JRNA
Variability in JRNA Implementation
JRNA as An Innovation
Key Implementation Components and JRNA
Considering Context and Assessing Readiness for Change
Selecting Appropriate Tools
Rollout Processes, Staff Buy-In, and JRNA
Impact of Staff Attitudes and Buy-In
Staff Experience and Skills
Promoting User Confidence and Efficacy
Training and Engagement with Key Personnel
Sustainability, Quality Assurance, and Continued Improvement
Key Lessons and Challenges of JRNA Implementation and Use
Chapter Summary
Chapter 5: Doing Justice and Juvenile Risk and Needs Assessment
Political and Legal Framework for Use of JRNA
Potential Causes for Concern
Labeling and Locating Risk
Balancing Risks with Strengths
Race and Ethnic Disparities
Gender Disparities
Development, Change, and Dynamic Assessment
Resources, Placements, and Level of Control
Chapter Summary
Chapter 6: Returning to Underlying Theory and Principles
Theoretical Origins and Foundations
Clinical and Statistical Judgment
Risk, Needs, and Responsivity (RNR) Framework
Measurement and Methodology
Data and Measurement in JRNA Research
JRNA and Decision-Making
Decision Theory
Focal Concerns
Attribution Theory
Heuristics and Biases in Decision-Making
Collaborative Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships
Collaboration
Multiple Sources of Knowledge
Social Action
Chapter Summary
Chapter 7: The Next Generation of Juvenile Risk and Needs Assessment
Summary of Key Conclusions
A Next Generation JRNA Research Agenda
Logic and Theory of JRNA
Studies of Assessments
Studies of Assessment Usage and the Logic Model
Studies of Implementation and Use
Next Generation JRNA Policy
Next Generation JRNA Implementation and Usage
The Future of JRNA: Theory, Research, Policy, and Practice
Biography
Christopher J. Sullivan is Professor and Director of the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Texas State University. He received his doctorate from Rutgers University in 2005. His research interests include developmental and life-course criminology; juvenile delinquency and juvenile justice; and research and analytic methods. He has published more than 90 journal articles and book chapters on those and related topics. He is author of Taking Juvenile Justice Seriously: Developmental Insights and System Challenges (Temple University Press, 2019), which was selected as an Outstanding Contribution by the American Society of Criminology’s Division of Developmental and Life Course Criminology in 2020. Dr. Sullivan has been named a 250th Anniversary Fellow at Rutgers University and a Fellow of the Graduate School at the University of Cincinnati for his research and has received award recognition for his mentoring and teaching of graduate students and academic service. He has been data analyst or Principal Investigator (PI) on several federally or state-funded projects in juvenile justice practice and policy. Professor Sullivan has been Co-Editor of the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency since 2017.
Kristina K. Childs is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Central Florida. She received her doctoral degree in Criminology from the University of South Florida in 2008. Then, she was a post-doctoral fellow for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change: Systems Reform in Juvenile Justice initiative in Louisiana. Her main research interests include juvenile risk and need assessment practices, evaluation of prevention and intervention programs for at-risk youths, and the effectiveness of mental health and de-escalation training and education for front-line juvenile justice decision-makers. She has published more than 25 academic articles and book chapters on juvenile justice issues. To support her research, she has received over $1 million in external grants from the National Institute of Justice, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
