Bias detected? An examination of criminal history using the OYAS-DIS for girls and black youth

Abstract

Black youth and girls are at an increased risk of formal involvement in the juvenile justice system. These differential experiences have the potential to harm the validity of the criminal history measures on juvenile risk assessments. The present study examines the incremental validity of the criminal history items on the Ohio Youth Assessment System-Disposition Tool in a sample of 3,591 youth across gender and race. Results indicated that the criminal history items significantly contributed to the predictive validity of the tool for White boys, but this was not the case for Black boys, Black girls, or White girls. Future risk assessments should consider modifying or omitting these items, as they neither predict recidivism nor inform treatment for various youth.

Keywords:

• Risk assessment
• criminal history
• static items
• recidivism
• juvenile justice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

William T. Miller

William T. Miller is a doctoral candidate at the University of Cincinnati School of Criminal Justice. His primary research interests include risk assessment, delinquency prevention, cognitive behavioral interventions, and program evaluation.

Christina A. Campbell

Dr. Christina A. Campbell is an Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati in the School of Criminal Justice. Her primary research interests include delinquency prevention, risk assessment, juvenile justice policy, and neighborhood ecology. She also conducts research on racial and health disparities experienced by individuals involved in the justice and child welfare systems. She is a NIJ W.E.B. Dubois research fellow.

Twyla Larnell

Twyla Blackmond Larnell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago. Her research examines local politics and policy centering around issues of racial and gender disparities, particularly as they relate to political representation, as well as economic development with an emphasis on neighborhoods, spatial inequalities, blight, and poverty.