Structured Assessment Of Violence Risk In Youth Research Articles

Predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) during residential treatment

This prospective study examines the predictive validity of the Dutch version of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) by examining relationships between SAVRY scores and various types of disruptive behavior during residential treatment. The SAVRY, a risk assessment instrument, was coded for 66 male adolescents on the basis of file information and interviews. The adolescents were referred to Rentray, a juvenile correctional and treatment facility, by the Dutch juvenile courts because of severe behavioral problems or serious offenses. Institutional infractions were retrieved from incident registration files, which included acts of physical violence, verbal threat, verbal abuse, and violation of institutional rules. The interrater reliability of the SAVRY scores was good. The predictive validity of the SAVRY for physical violence against persons was excellent (Risk Total: AUC = .80, r = .33; Summery Risk Rating: AUC = .86, r = .48). The SAVRY also had good predictive validity for violence against objects, verbal threats and violations of rules, but not for verbal abuse. Implications for assessment and management of violent behavior among adolescents in residential treatment are discussed.

A Comparative Study of Adolescent Risk Assessment Instruments

Promising new adolescent risk assessment tools are being incorporated into clinical practice but currently possess limited evidence of predictive validity regarding their individual and/or combined use in risk assessments. The current study compares three structured adolescent risk instruments, Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI), Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY), and Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV), for both predictive and incremental validity with respect to general and violent recidivism. Receiver operating characteristic and hierarchical logistic regression analyses revealed that the risk tools predicted general and violent recidivism to varying degrees of accuracy, but the SAVRY offered the most in incremental validity. Clinical implications and future directions for youth risk assessment are discussed.

The Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth as a predictor of recidivism in a United Kingdom cohort of adolescent offenders with conduct disorder.

This prospective study examined the predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) and the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL: YV) in 99 male adolescents who were assessed in custody and followed up 12 months post release. Outcome data on recidivism were based on official Home Office records. The base rates for violent and general recidivism, respectively, were 38.4% and 70.7%. The predictive validity of the SAVRY Risk Total and the SAVRY Risk Rating was moderate for both violent and general recidivism, but both showed incremental validity in predicting outcomes compared with the PCL: YV. Data are discussed in relation to the limited published international literature.

Gender Differences in Violent Outcome and Risk Assessment in Adolescent Offenders After Residential Treatment

In light of the increase of violence in female adolescents during the past few decades, not only preventive, but also remedial strategies are important to mitigate this trend. Once high-risk female adolescents enter the juvenile justice system, it is important to be able to use reliable and valid instruments to predict reoffending. However, only a few studies have focused on risk assessment specifically addressing female adolescents. This prospective study examined gender differences in violent recidivism over an average follow-up period of 18 months after discharge, making use of the Dutch version of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY). The SAVRY was coded for 35 female adolescents and a comparison sample of 47 male adolescents on the basis of file information before their release. The juvenile court had referred all these juveniles to a juvenile justice facility, because of violent offending and severe behavioral problems. Data on recidivism were retrieved from the Identification Service System of the National Police Services. Significant differences were found between the two gender groups on a number of SAVRY items. The predictive validity of the SAVRY for violent recidivism was good for girls (AUC = .85) and for boys (AUC = .82). However, false positives for girls were found more frequently than for boys. Implications for gender specific risk assessment and risk management in clinical practice are discussed.

Assessing Risk for Violence in Adolescents Who Have Sexually Offended

As the youth justice system has evolved, clinicians have been increasingly asked to make judgments about the likelihood that a youth who has committed a sexual offense will reoffend. However, there is an absence of well-validated tools to assist with these judgments. This study examined the ability of the Juvenile Sexual Offense Recidivism Risk Assessment Tool—II (J-SORRAT-II), Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY), and Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol—II (J-SOAP-II) to predict violent behavior in 169 male youth who were admitted to a residential adolescent sex offender program. Total scores on the SAVRY and J-SOAP-II significantly predicted nonsexual violence but none of the instruments predicted sexual violence. The J-SOAP-II and SAVRY were less effective in predicting violent reoffending in youth aged 15 and younger than in older youth. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Juvenile Parricide: A Predictable Offense?

ABSTRACT The act of juvenile parricide is a rare crime, but one that is highly publicized and generates much public outrage. Due to it being an offense that has a very low base rate, predicting its occurrence is extremely difficult, if not impossible. The purpose of this study was to assess the predictive utility of both the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) and Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) on a youth that had been adjudicated on this offense. As expected, given the dynamics surrounding juvenile parricide cases, as well as the general psychological characteristics of the perpetrators, neither the SAVRY nor the PCL: YV would have provided a score that would assist in either the prediction or postdiction of the offense committed by the youth in this Study.