Profiles of SAVRY risk and protective factors within male and female juvenile offenders: A latent class and latent transition analysis

Abstract

This longitudinal study explored the existence of, and the transition between, latent classes based on risk/need domains of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY). The study included 4,267 male and 661 female justice-involved juveniles who had at least one SAVRY assessment completed between 2006 and 2011. A three-step approach was used for the latent class analyses (LCA): (1) A standard LCA estimated the classes; (2) the class-membership was determined; and (3) latent transition analyses estimated the likelihood of transition between the subgroups. For male adolescents, five latent classes were identified: (a) low risk/needs (36%); (b) low-moderate risk/needs (26%); (c) moderate risk/needs (11%); (d) moderate-high risk/needs (19%); and (e) high risk/needs (8%). For female adolescents, three subgroups were identified: (a) low risk/needs (30%); (b) moderate risk/needs (51%); and (c) high risk/needs (19%). Recidivism rates differentiated the subgroups, and the likelihood of transition within a 12-months timeframe was low.

Keywords:

• Justice-involved juveniles
• Latent class analyses
• Gender
• Risk assessment
• SAVRY

Acknowledgments

The first author wishes to acknowledge the support of the Centre for Legal studies and Specialized Training of the Generalitat de Catalonia during the implementation phase.

Notes

1 The number of community probation and detentions refers to the number of penal sanctions, not to persons since one person can have several sanctions over a longer period.