NCJ Number
176252
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 49 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 1998 Pages: 55-62
Date Published
1998
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Data from 67 convicted male juvenile offenders in Indiana were studied to determine how well the Risk Assessment Instrument (RAI) used by the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) predicts juvenile recidivism.
Abstract
The participants had been sent to the North Central Juvenile Correctional Facility in Indiana. Information was collected from offenders' files on their history of prior offenses and their RAI scores, as well as from corrections records and follow-up telephone calls to the offender's home county sheriff 3-5 months after the offender was released. Forty-nine percent of the offenders recidivated within 6 months of their release. The average time to recidivism was 2.74 months. RAI scores for recidivists and non-recidivists did not differ. Thus, the RAI failed to predict which offenders in this sample would recidivate. Further research into the usefulness of the RAI for predicting recidivism should include more offenders, offenders with all levels of reading ability, offenders whose crimes vary in severity and females. Nevertheless, it is likely that the RAI would still perform poorly. Therefore, the RAI should be standardized in administration and scoring, assessed for internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and tested on a large sample of juvenile offenders who are followed for 6 months or more after release. Copy of RAI and IDOC placement matrix and 9 references