Standardized Instruments for Assessing Risk and Need in Youthful Offenders

Judgments about risk and need factors form the basis for important decisions about youths within juvenile justice systems. The judgments are particularly relevant to preadjudicatory diversion and detention actions as well as postadjudication disposition decisions. Research has shown, however, that these judgments are frequently made through informal and unsystematic procedures, and this in turn often results in inconsistency and bias in the decision process. An argument is developed in this article that these processes would be improved with the use of standardized risk and need assessment instruments. Three representative measures are described.