Validity of the Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument: A Juvenile Justice Tool Incorporating Risks, Needs, and Strengths

The primary purpose of this study is to introduce the Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument (YASI; Orbis Partners, 2000), which is a comprehensive assessment protocol gauging a range of risks, needs, and strengths associated with criminal conduct in juvenile populations. Applied to a sample of 4...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Law and human behavior 2016-04, Vol.40 (2), p.182-194
Main Authors: Jones, Natalie J, Brown, Shelley L, Robinson, David, Frey, Deanna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Child
Female
Human
Human Sex Differences
Humans
Indigenous Populations
Juvenile Delinquency
Juvenile Justice
Male
Needs Assessment
Prospective Studies
Psychometrics
Recurrence
Reproducibility of Results
Risk Assessment
Risk Assessment - methods
Screening
Test Reliability
Test Validity
Young Adult
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Summary:The primary purpose of this study is to introduce the Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument (YASI; Orbis Partners, 2000), which is a comprehensive assessment protocol gauging a range of risks, needs, and strengths associated with criminal conduct in juvenile populations. Applied to a sample of 464 juvenile offenders bound by community supervision in Alberta, Canada, the Pre-Screen version of the instrument achieved a high level of accuracy in predicting both general and violent offenses over an 18-month follow-up period (Area Under the Curve [AUC] = .79). No significant differences in overall predictive validity were found across demographic groups, save for the relatively lower level of accuracy achieved in predicting general reoffending across the subsample of girls (AUC = .68). With regard to strengths, a buffering effect was identified whereby high-risk cases with higher levels of strength had superior outcomes compared to their lower strength counterparts. Results suggest that it is advisable to consider the quantitative inclusion of strength-based items in the assessment of juvenile risk.
ISSN:0147-7307
1573-661X
DOI:10.1037/lhb0000170