The LSI-R in an Australian Setting: Implications for Risk/Needs Decision-Making in Forensic Contexts

Abstract

The Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) is an actuarial tool that was created and normed in Canadian forensic settings. The tool is also used in Australia to conduct a risk/needs analysis of inmates, so that appropriate service provision can be mapped onto individuals in such a way as to minimise offender recidivism in community settings. Given differences between the Australian and Canadian cultural, forensic and macro socio-political contexts, questions arise regarding the adequacy of Canadian LSI-R norms, as an appropriate standard of comparison for Australian contexts. This study compiled LSI-R data from 254 male and 77 female offenders from five prison locations and then explored how Australian samples compared to Canadian samples. Inter-country comparisons compared percentile ranks as well as the overall profile of LSI-R subscale correlations in Australian versus Canadian samples. Both male and female Australian offenders scored higher on the LSI-R than Canadian inmates. Australian female offenders scored notably higher on the LSI-R than Canadian females. The overall profile of LSI-R subscale correlations also varied in Australian versus Canadian settings. An intra-country analysis of Australian data in isolation revealed that the relationships between LSI-R subscales was different for males and females. The implications of findings are considered in lieu of the cultural, forensic and socio-political context of Australian and Canadian settings. Implications are also considered in lieu of the limitations of the current study, the most prominent of which were sources of sampling biases, and the smaller sample size of the Australian data set.