Risk profiles in a Spanish sample of juvenile offenders: implications for risk assessment and management

ABSTRACT

Risk assessment instruments are designed to help juvenile justice practitioners in decision-making and intervention planning. Previous findings showed that a cumulative risk would be useful in predicting reoffending, whereas a person-centered approach would be more appropriate for risk management and intervention development. Thus, the goal of the current study was to identify risk profiles of juvenile offenders based on the scores obtained in the eight factors assessed by the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) and analyze how they differ in a set of youth demographic factors. The sample was composed of 334 young offenders, 77.2% males, aged 14–21 (M = 16.96; SD = 1.35). The results showed a better fit for the four-class solution, which classified individuals into four different profiles according to their scores on the YLS/CMI: low-needs, antisocial/peers, psychosocial and high-needs. Differences among subgroups were found in terms of gender, age, type of offense and juvenile justice measure. Males were overrepresented in the antisocial/peers and the high-needs groups, and both the low- and high-needs groups were composed by older youths. The identified profiles also differed in type of offenses and in juvenile justice measures. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of risk management.

KEYWORDS:

• Risk management
• juvenile offenders
• YLS/CMI
• latent class analysis
• risk factors

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted under a collaboration agreement with Fundación Educativa e Social Dignidade (2019-CL076). CIEMA Lugo is responsible for judicial measures execution under LORPM (Ley Orgánica 5/2000, de 12 de enero, reguladora de la responsabilidad penal de los menores) in the province of Lugo, in accordance with the collaboration agreement signed between Fundación Educativa e Social Dignidade and the Department of Social Policy of Xunta de Galicia.

Data availability statement

The data are available upon request of the corresponding author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Xunta de Galicia within the consolidation and structuring of competitive research units and other promotional actions in the universities of the SUG under grant GRC 2018. Lorena Maneiro's contribution to this manuscript was supported by Xunta de Galicia under the program Axudas de apoio á etapa de formación posdoutoral (Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria).