Evaluating the utility of ‘strength’ items when assessing the risk of young offenders

There is emerging recognition that positive or pro-social characteristics may lessen criminal propensity. There are now several adult and youth forensic instruments that include protective or strength components. Yet evidence supporting the protective capacities of these instruments with youth offending populations is still developing. This study aimed to identity the prevalence of strength items on the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory tool, and their relationships with risk and re-offending for a cohort of 212 multi-cultural Australian juveniles in custody. The prevalence of strengths in the sample was low, and differed by cultural group. Young people who possessed a strength yielded lower instrument total and domain scores and were more likely to be afforded a lower level of risk compared to youth without a strength. Moreover, youth who possessed a strength were significantly more likely to desist from re-offending. This association remained after controlling for level of risk. Findings point to the importance of strengths when assessing a young person’s risk for re-offending.     

Book reviews

Susan Eisenhower (ed.), NATO at Fifty: Perspectives on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance. Washington, DC: Center for Political and Strategic Studies, 1999. Pp.242, endnotes, no index. $22. ISBN 0–9670233–0‐0.

W. R. Smyser, From Yalta to Berlin: The Cold War Struggle over Germany. New York: St Martin's Press, 1999. Pp.496, 6pp. illus., index. $29.95. ISBN 0–3120–6605–8.

Jean Yves Carlen, Steve Duchêne and Joël Ehrhart, Ibrahim Rugova: Le frêle colosse du Kosovo [Ibrahim Rugova: The Frail Colossus of Kosovo]. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1999. Pp.149, no index. FF78. ISBN 2–220–04392–4.

Gabriel Gorodetsky, Grand Delusion: Stalin and the German Invasion of Russia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999. Pp.424, notes, bibliog., index. $29.95. ISBN 0–300–07792–0.