Youth Violence Risk Assessment: A Framework for Practice

Abstract

The overarching aim of this chapter is to provide a framework for practitioners to aid their understanding and application of best practice principles in youth violence risk assessment. In order to achieve this goal, we set the scene by providing some statistics on youth violence, and detail the importance of robust risk assessments in supporting an overall management and support plan. Next, we highlight some of the key themes to emerge from the literature pertinent to understanding the phenomenon of youth violence. This is followed by a review of the different paradigms for assessing risk. Building on this, we take the view that the structured professional judgement (SPJ) paradigm provides the only feasible method of assessing violence risk, and we describe the available protocols that may be used to structure an evaluation for violent youth. However, we take the position that it is unacceptable to cease the assessment after merely identifying ‘what’ risk factors are present. A much deeper analysis must be achieved, addressing ‘why’ and ‘how’ risk manifests. We argue that a risk assessment is incomplete, and potentially misleading, in the absence of a risk formulation. Because the extant literature on clinical risk formulation is relatively scarce and, to our knowledge, no guidelines exist for understanding youth violence, we present a framework for practice that should assist evaluators. In the final substantive section, we acknowledge the still significant challenges that abound in youth violence risk assessment, and highlight key research and practice areas for development in the Conclusion.