NCJ Number
214261
Date Published
May 2006
Length
198 pages
Annotation
This study is a continuation of ongoing research designed to test the predictive accuracy of the Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol--II (J-SOAP-II), a risk assessment scale designed for juvenile sexual offenders; the current study obtained data on a sufficiently large number of juvenile sexual reoffenders to examine the J-SOAP-II's predictive validity.
Abstract
Although study findings provided strong evidence of the predictive validity of the J-SOAP, the findings were specific to a child welfare sample drawn from one northeastern State (Massachusetts). The J-SOAP cannot be assumed to have comparable predictive validity in racially and ethnically diverse samples of youth drawn from the juvenile justice system. Since the J-SOAP is used mostly with youth in the juvenile justice system, its predictive accuracy must be tested on large samples of such youth. The J-SOAP has 28 items in 4 scales: Sexual Drive and Preoccupation; Impulsive, Antisocial Behavior; Clinical Intervention; and Community Stability. The research begun in 2001 focused on a child protection sample in Massachusetts that consisted of youth who had been identified for a special evaluation called Assessment for Safe and Appropriate Placement (ASAP), which is used with youth who have engaged in sexually inappropriate, sexually coercive, and/or sexually aggressive behavior. The objective of the research was to obtain reliable outcome information on a sufficiently large subsample of juvenile sexual recidivists to permit testing the predictive accuracy of the J-SOAP-II. The current study collected post-ASAP outcome and reoffending data on 822 youths (667 boys and 155 girls) who had been in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services and had been given an ASAP evaluation. 126 references and appended tables and figures