Handbook of Recidivism Risk / Needs Assessment Tools

Jay P. Singh, Daryl G. Kroner, J. Stephen Wormith, Sarah L. Desmarais, Zachary Hamilton, Jay P. Singh, Daryl G. Kroner, J. Stephen Wormith, Sarah L. Desmarais, Zachary Hamilton

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781119184294, 9781119184287
• eBook ISBN: 9781119184263
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Forensic Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Provides comprehensive coverage on recidivism risk/needs assessment tools

Correctional and healthcare professionals around the world utilize structured instruments referred to as risk/needs assessment tools to predict the likelihood that an offender will recidivate. Such tools have been found to provide accurate and reliable evaluations and are widely used to assess, manage, and monitor offenders both institutionally as well as in the community. By identifying offenders in need of different levels of intervention, examining causal risk factors, and individualizing case management plans, risk/needs assessment tools have proven invaluable in addressing the public health issue of recidivism.  Recidivism Risk/Needs Assessment Tools brings together the developers of the most commonly-used risk/needs assessment tools to provide a comprehensive overview of their development, peer-reviewed research literature, and practical application. 

Written by the leading professionals in the field of risk/needs assessment, the book provides chapters on: Recidivism Risk Assessment in the 21st Century; Performance of Recidivism Risk Assessment Instruments in Correctional Settings; Correctional Offender Management Profiles for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS); the Federal Post-Conviction Risk Assessment Instrument; the Inventory of Offender Risks, Needs, and Strengths (IORNS); the Level of Service (LS) Instruments; the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS); the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ); the Service Planning Instrument (SPIn); the Static Risk Offender Needs Guide-Revised (STRONG-R); the Offender Group Reconviction Scale (OGRS); the Forensic Operationalized Therapy/Risk Evaluation System (FOTRES); the RisCanvi; and more. 

• Systematically identifies currently-validated recidivism risk/needs assessment tools
• Reviews research on recidivism risk/needs assessment tools used internationally
• Each chapter presents sufficient detail to decide whether a given recidivism risk/needs assessment tool is right for your practice 

Recidivism Risk/Needs Assessment Tools  is ideal for correctional, probation and parole, and behavioral health professionals. 

Part I
Introduction

1
Performance of Recidivism Risk Assessment Instruments in U.S. Correctional Settings*

Sarah L. Desmarais, Kiersten L. Johnson, and Jay P. Singh

The rates of correctional supervision and incarceration in the United States are staggering. To demonstrate, almost seven million people—or one in 35 adults—were under the supervision of correctional systems in the United States at the end of 2013 (Glaze & Kaeble, 2014). This includes approximately one in 51 adults on probation or parole and one in 110 adults incarcerated in prison or jail. These are rates higher than seen anywhere else in the world. As a point of comparison, the rate of incarceration in the United States is more than four times the rate of incarceration found in the majority of the world's countries (Walmsley, 2013). In fact, even though the United States has less than 5% of the global population, it has close to one‐quarter of the world's prisoners (Walmsley, 2013). Clearly, there is a pressing need for efforts to reduce mass incarceration in the United States, including treatment to reduce recidivism and diversion of lower risk offenders to alternative settings and punishments. Indeed, not all offenders are at equal risk of recidivating (Langan & Levin, 2002) and, accordingly, may not require the same levels of supervision and intervention (Monahan & Skeem, 2016). Additionally, in contrast with the traditional “one‐size‐fits‐all” criminal justice approach, research shows that the most effective strategies for reducing recidivism are those delivered to offenders at greater risk of recidivism that target individual needs (Andrews & Bonta, 2010). Consequently, psychologists and other professionals working in U.S. correctional agencies face mounting pressures to differentiate between offenders at greater and lower risk of recidivism and to guide decisions regarding treatment and supervision (Jung, Brown, Ennis, & Ledi, 2015; Monahan & Skeem, 2016).

In recent years, risk assessment has come to be recognized as a key component of criminal justice reform and evidence‐based corrections in the United States (Casey, Warren, & Elek, 2011). There is overwhelming evidence that risk assessments completed using structured approaches produce estimates that are more reliable and more accurate than unstructured risk assessments (Ægisdóttir et al., 2006; Grove, Zald, Lebow, Snitz, & Nelson, 2000). Risk assessments completed using structured approaches also have b...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• Preface: Recidivism Risk Assessment in the 21st Century
• Part I: Introduction
• Part II: Risk/Needs Assessment in North America
• Part III: Risk/Needs Assessment Abroad
• Part IV: Conclusion
• Appendix
• Index
• End User License Agreement