Patterns of Change in Dynamic Risk Factors over Time in Youth Offenders

Risk assessments that include dynamic risk factors are increasingly being utilized within the youth justice system to predict a young person’s likelihood to reoffend, to assist with case management, and to better inform intervention services. However, most studies to date have relied solely on single-wave cross-sectional research designs that essentially treat dynamic risk factors as static. Thus, it is unclear whether and how putative dynamic risk factors change over time, a question that has significant implications for assessment and case management policy and practice. Using a widely used and validated risk assessment and case management instrument (the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory), the purpose of the present study was to examine whether the dynamic risk factors outlined in the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model do in fact change over time and, if so, to investigate the effect of youth-specific predictors on these changes. Two hundred youth offenders were tracked from their first ...