Assessment of Accused Juvenile Sex Offenders in Germany: A Comparison of Five Different Measures

Abstract

The present study examines the relationship between risk and protective factors among young alleged sexual offenders (N = 66) in pre-trial and pre-treatment settings. For risk assessment purposes, the Screening Tool for the Assessment of Young Sexual Offenders' Risk (STAYSOR), the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY), and the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for violence risk (SAPROF) were used. Psychopathological indicators measured with the Basis Raads Onderzoek (BARO) and the German adaption of the Reynolds Adolescent Adjustment Screening Inventory (RAASI) were used to examine the relationship between the risk assessment scales and instruments measuring risk-relevant psychopathological constructs. Risk and protective factors were significantly negatively correlated. Psychopathological measures were positively correlated with risk factors and negatively with protective factors. Although further studies on the predictive validity of the instruments are needed, the results of the present explorative pilot study indicate that the use of all five instruments may be clinically meaningful for the assessment of young persons who are at risk of sexual offending.

The Predictive Validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth for Young Spanish Offenders

“…Our results agree with those of prior studies (Welsh et al, 2008; Klein et al, 2012; Childs et al, 2014; Hilterman et al, 2014, 2016; Shepherd et al, 2014b). When comparing total and partial mean scores on the SAVRY instrument, the scores from this study are lower than those calculated in other research studies (Dolan and Rennie, 2008; Gammelgard et al, 2008; Lodewijks et al, 2008; Meyers and Schmidt, 2008; Hilterman et al, 2014, 2016; Shepherd et al, 2014a; Chu et al, 2016).…”

“…It represents another step forward in the study of instruments for predicting risk of recidivism. In particular, this study of the SAVRY supplies information that can be compared to other studies performed in this country and internationally (McEachran, 2001; Catchpole and Gretton, 2003; Borum et al, 2006; Dolan and Rennie, 2008; Duits et al, 2008; Gammelgard et al, 2008; Lodewijks et al, 2010; Vincent et al, 2011; Klein et al, 2012; Childs et al, 2013, 2014; Hilterman et al, 2014, 2016; Shepherd et al, 2014a; Chu et al, 2016), as well as information for carrying out systematic, meta-analysis reviews (Schwalbe, 2007, 2008; Olver et al, 2009; Fazel et al, 2012; Singh et al, 2013), and for future generalization studies focusing on the instrument’s reliability and validity.…”

“…In all these studies the SAVRY shows adequate psychometric properties (Dolan and Rennie, 2008; Duits et al, 2008; Gammelgard et al, 2008; Klein et al, 2012; Hilterman et al, 2014; Chu et al, 2016). …”

“…The SAVRY has been adapted to different countries, including the USA (Chapman et al, 2006), Finland (Gammelgard et al, 2008), Netherlands (Duits et al, 2008), UK (Dolan and Rennie, 2008), Germany (Klein et al, 2012), Australia (Shepherd et al, 2014a), Singapore (Chu et al, 2016), China (Zhou et al, 2017) and Spain (Hilterman et al, 2014, 2016). In all these studies the SAVRY shows adequate psychometric properties (Dolan and Rennie, 2008; Duits et al, 2008; Gammelgard et al, 2008; Klein et al, 2012; Hilterman et al, 2014; Chu et al, 2016).…”

Protective Factors and Recidivism in Accused Juveniles Who Sexually Offended

“…Spice et al (2013) assumed, therefore, that specific protective factors for sexual recidivism might potentially exist, which are different from those for general and violent recidivism. In a study examining the prevalence of protective factors in a sample of 66 young accused juveniles who sexually offended, also using parts of the sample assessed within the current study, Klein et al (2012) reported a negative correlation between protective factors measured by the Structured Assessment of PROtective Factors for violence risk (SAPROF;de Vogel et al, 2009), and the SAVRY risk factors. Furthermore, a negative relationship between protective factors and psychopathological problems was reported.…”