Assessing juvenile offenders: Preliminary data for the Australian adaptation of the youth level of service/case management inventory (Hoge & Andrews, 1995)*

*Some of the psychometric results were presented by Thompson, A. P., & Pope, Z. (2003). The conceptual and psychometric basis for risk – need assessment in juvenile justice. In M. Katsikitis (Ed.), Proceedings of the 38th APS Annual Conference (pp. 224 – 228). Melbourne: The Australian Psychological Society.

Abstract

*Some of the psychometric results were presented by Thompson, A. P., & Pope, Z. (2003). The conceptual and psychometric basis for risk – need assessment in juvenile justice. In M. Katsikitis (Ed.), Proceedings of the 38th APS Annual Conference (pp. 224 – 228). Melbourne: The Australian Psychological Society.

The developmental phase and preliminary psychometric data are reported for an Australian adaptation of an assessment inventory for juvenile offenders. Specifically, the Australian Adaptation of the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI-AA, Hoge, & Andrews, 1995) is used to assess risks, needs and strengths to inform decision making with juvenile offenders. Data from a sample of 290 juvenile offenders were used to analyse item and score characteristics which, with few exceptions, performed in keeping with traditional psychometric standards. Predictive validity in a subsample of 174 males followed for recidivism between 6 and 32 months resulted in a correlation of 0.28 and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.67 for the total score on the inventory. The results and use of the inventory are placed in the context of related developments in other jurisdictions.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Collaborative Research Unit of the NSW Department of Juvenile Justice for their assistance in undertaking this research. The opinions here do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSW Department of Juvenile Justice, or any of its officers. Zoe Pope is now at Forensic Services, Mental Health ACT, Australia.

Notes

*Some of the psychometric results were presented by Thompson, A. P., & Pope, Z. (2003). The conceptual and psychometric basis for risk – need assessment in juvenile justice. In M. Katsikitis (Ed.), Proceedings of the 38th APS Annual Conference (pp. 224 – 228). Melbourne: The Australian Psychological Society.

1 Apart from suiting the Australian context, the adaptation was needed to accommodate, in particular, an older age-range. The Canadian inventory was developed for use with 12 – 16-year-old offenders and norms are for 12 – 17 years. In NSW, a single government department deals with 10 – 18-year-old offenders.

2 There were seven instances in which the time to reconviction was less than 2.5 months. It is possible that these were outstanding rather than new charges. Reported predictive validity analysis included these cases, as the results were virtually identical to when they were excluded.