Assessment Flashcards
What is the VRAG/SORAG and how does it work?
*** Not predictive for women
* Most accurate test for violent recidivism
The VRAG- Violence Risk Appraisal Guide: An empirical actuarial risk assessment instrument designed to estimate the risk for violent recidivism.
It evaluates 12 static predictors of violent recidivism.
It does this by evaluating 12 static predictors of violent recidivism. These 12 items can be summed to compute total scores, which are then grouped into 9 risk categories. Higher scores and categories indicate a greater risk of violent recidivism.
The 12 VRAG items are:
1) Antisociality
2) Prior admissions to correctional institutions
3) Failure on prior conditional release
4) Elementary school maladjustment
5) Conduct disorder
6) Nonviolent criminal history score
7) Young age at index offence
8) Violent criminal history score
9) History of drug/alcohol problems
10) Sexual offending history
11) Did not live with both biological parents to age 16
12) Never married
What is the HCR-20
*Suitable for adolescents
Assesses H-Historical C-Clinical and R-Risk management.
It broadly examines risk factors and violence from the past, present and future.
Consists of (20):
10 Historical items(static)-
5 Clinical items(dynamic)- This reflects current factors related to violence
5 Risk-Management items- Situational post-assessment factors that may aggravate or mitigate risk.
What are the three types of treatments
plans?
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
What is a primary treatment plan? Give an example
Prevention
Primary treatment plans are implemented prior to any violence occurring, with the goal of reducing the likelihood that violence will occur later on (i.e. prevention)
A primary treatment plan focuses on prevention by identifying groups * (not individuals) that have risk factors for engaging in antisocial behaviour later in life. Addressing the needs of these children before violence has occurred then reduces the likelihood that they will go on to become adolescent offenders.
Since primary treatment plans target groups, they typically consist of family-oriented, school oriented, or community oriented, strategies.
What is a secondary treatment plan? Give an example
Intervention Secondary treatment plans attempt to reduce the frequency of violence after it has already begun to occur.
Secondary intervention strategies target adolescents that have been in contact with the criminal justice system or have shown behavioural problems at school.
Many of the same strategies as used in primary treatment are used here, but the target has changed to the individual.
*This includes restorative type justice
What is a tertiary treatment plan? Give an example?
Treatment Tertiary treatment plans attempt to prevent violence from re-occuring. Is implemented towards adolescents* that have engaged in criminal acts and may have already been processed through court proceedings.
Recipients are typically chronic and serious adolescent offenders. The goal is to minimize the impact of existing risk factors and foster the development of protective factors, reducing the risk that the adolescent will engage in future offending.
Tertiary intervention strategies include inpatient treatment and community-based treatment.
Approaches can focus on retribution or rehabilitation
Retribution - Adolescents held accountable, punished, separated from society. Believe treatment should be provided in an institutional setting.
Rehabilitation- Believe in treatment based in the community
Shorter institutional stays combined with greater community involvement was most effective for violent adolescents.
*It is hard to catch these cases before they become more severe, and very difficult once subjects have become incarcerated and end up in the prison system.
What is deterrence?
The application of punishment to influence behaviour.
Incapacitation
Type of crime control where offenders are removed from the population and incarcerated, making them unable to commit crimes.
Retribution
Asserts that when society is harmed, it has the right to harm the offender.
An “eye for an eye”
Restorative justice
Attends to the needs of both victims and offenders. a third alternative to retribution and rehabilitation.
What is the PCL-R?
*Predictive of reoffending for adolescent females, but not adult females
Psychopathy Checklist-Revised
Based on lifetime functioning
20 items rated on a 0-1-2 three point scale
