A dynamic assessment of offender risk, needs, and strengths in a sample of pre‐release general offenders

Abstract

Static, dynamic, and protective factors have been identified as three focal domains significantly related to offender recidivism. However, few measures include comprehensive and inclusive assessment of these variables. The Inventory of Offender Risk, Needs, and Strengths (IORNS) was developed to fill a void in the assessment of risk and needs for offenders. The current study examines the reliability and initial validity of the IORNS in a sample of pre-release offenders assessed for risk and treatment need. Results indicate moderate to high levels of internal consistency and identical IORNS scale results across race, and that the IORNS indexes, scales, and subscales display good convergent validity with self-report and interview measures of static risk, dynamic risk, antisocial behavior, psychopathy, personality pathology, substance abuse, depression, and anxiety. Initial predictive validity examination of the IORNS indicates that several of the indexes, scales, and subscales were able to differentiate offenders who were sent back to prison for half-way house rule violations from those who did not violate rules.

The Predictive Validity of Clinical Ratings of the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START)

“…The Inventory of Offender Risks, Needs, and Strengths (IORNS; Miller, 2006) is a self-report measure designed to predict aggression and long-term recidivism. The IORNS contains 130 yes/no items that assess static risks, dynamic needs, and protective strengths.…”

“…The protective strength variables relate to cognitive/behavioral regulation, anger regulation, and education/training. One study to date has evaluated the IORNS's accuracy in predicting general recidivism (Miller, 2006). In this study of offenders released to a halfway house, recidivism was defined as any violation of the halfway house rules that merited the offender being referred back to the prison for assessment.…”

Protective Factors for Violence Risk: The Value for Clinical Practice

“…Rogers (2000) stated that most assessments were risk-only evaluations, which were inherently inaccurate and implicitly biased. According to Miller (2006), the mere focus on risk factors in most risk assessment instruments likely results in pessimism among therapists and over-prediction of recidivism, possibly leading to the wrongful, lengthy detention of forensic psychiatric patients, which is costly both for the patients, in terms of loss of personal liberties, and for society, in terms of financial burden.…”

Psychopathic traits in adolescence: a review

“…This fact is reflected in studies on affective traits, such as superficial affection, and criminal recurrence (Essaau, Sasagawa, & Frick, 2006), as well as the development of parallel and specific scales to measure the risk of a new event in recurrent aggressors, such as the Inventory of Offender Risk, Needs and Strengths (IORNS). This scale was utilized in a recent work (Miller, 2006) to investigate which would be the best outcome for an aggressor on parole, as well as to evaluate reliability and initial validation.…”