Assessing violence risk and psychopathy in juvenile and adult offenders: a survey of clinical practices
Viljoen, Jodi L. ; McLachlan, Kaitlyn ; Vincent, Gina M.
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UMass Chan Affiliations
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Keywords
Adult
Age Factors
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Canada
Criminals
Female
Forensic Psychiatry
Health Care Surveys
Humans
Intelligence Tests
Juvenile Delinquency
Male
Middle Aged
Predictive Value of Tests
Psychological Tests
Psychometrics
*Risk Assessment
United States
Violence
Young Adult
Health Services Research
Mental and Social Health
Psychiatric and Mental Health
Psychiatry
Psychiatry and Psychology
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Abstract
This study surveyed 199 forensic clinicians about the practices that they use in assessing violence risk in juvenile and adult offenders. Results indicated that the use of risk assessment and psychopathy tools was common. Although clinicians reported more routine use of psychopathy measures in adult risk assessments compared with juvenile risks assessments, 79% of clinicians reported using psychopathy measures at least once in a while in juvenile risk assessments. Extremely few clinicians, however, believe that juveniles should be labeled or referred to as psychopaths. Juvenile risk reports were more likely than adult reports to routinely discuss treatment and protective factors, and provide recommendations to reevaluate risk. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Source
Assessment. 2010 Sep;17(3):377-95. Epub 2010 Feb 2. Link to article on publisher's site