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.

摘要

黑人青年和女童正式参与少年司法系统的风险增加。这些不同的经历有可能损害关于青少年风险评估的犯罪历史措施的有效性。本研究以 3,591 名不同性别和种族的青年为样本，研究了俄亥俄州青年评估系统处置工具中犯罪历史项目的增量有效性。结果表明，犯罪历史项目显着促进了该工具对白人男孩的预测有效性，但对黑人男孩、黑人女孩或白人女孩而言并非如此。未来的风险评估应考虑修改或省略这些项目，因为它们既不能预测再犯，也不能为各种青年提供治疗信息。