Gender differences in violence risk profiles

Abstract

By contributing to the discussion concerning applicability of methods for assessing risk of violence to special groups, we studied the gender differences in violence risk profiles in 231 institutionalised adolescents. Initially, subjects were assessed for risk of violent behaviour according to the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY). Six months later, information regarding institutional violence was collected. Risk profiles showed that boys in general had more high-risk ratings on items regarding criminal conduct, problem-solving and ADHD, whereas girls peaked on self-destructive behaviours. The significant differences were levelled out when focusing only on youth with a SAVRY summary risk rating indicating high risk for violent behaviour. Gender interaction analysis further implied that girls’ risk items were strongly connected to past violent behaviour and lifetime stress, whereas violent outcome in boys was more strongly connected to anti-social behaviours. These findings should be considered especially when estimating violence risk in young females.