NCJ Number
218296
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior: An International Journal Volume: 34 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2007 Pages: 545-554
Date Published
April 2007
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the psychometric properties and validity of the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) among a sample of 446 African-American and Hispanic male parolees.
Abstract
Results indicated significant similarities on LSI-R scores between the African-American and Hispanic samples in terms of psychometric properties, reliability estimates, and validity estimates. Findings revealed that African-American offenders had significantly greater criminal histories and greater antisocial attitudes when compared to Hispanic offenders. However, it is important to note that most of the LSI-R scores between African-American and Hispanic offenders were not statistically significant and might not be clinically relevant. The results suggest that the LSI-R can be reliable and accurately used with African-American and Hispanic offender populations. Participants were 334 African-American and 112 Hispanic offenders residing in 3 Volunteers of America Delaware Valley halfway houses and 1 day reporting center community corrections program in New Jersey between January 2000 and July 2001. Data were gathered from participants’ program files, which included the completed LSI-R, the Pre-Sentence Investigation Report, parole reports, and program-related forms. Recidivism information was gathered from PROMIS/GAVEL, an automated prosecutor and criminal justice court management system. The psychometric properties and validity of the LSI-R was measured using interscale corrections and Chronbach’s alpha statistics. The authors encourage future research on the use of the LSI-R among minority offender populations. Tables, references