Reframing Violence Risk Assessment for Female Juvenile Offenders

Female offenders.

“…The absence of a gender-informed assessment paradigm has unknown but potentially dramatic implications for efforts to successfully prevent and treat women' s crime and violence. Despite the fact that clinicians, researchers, and decision-makers alike have denounced the absence of woman-centered services ( Pollock & Davis, 2005 ), experts caution that there is an absence of a strong empirical basis to support novel gendered approaches ( Havens, Ford, Grasso, & Marr, 2012 ;Heilbrun et al, 2008 ;Odgers, Schmidt, & Reppucci, 2004 ).…”

Psychology and public policy: A 50-year adventure.

“…Although I had been interested in juvenile violence for many years, it was not until Candice Odgers joined my research lab in 2001 that we began investigating violence risk assessment with adolescent females (e.g., Odgers, Moretti, & Reppucci, 2005; Odgers, Schmidt, & Reppucci, 2004). While much was known about risk and protective factors among adolescent male offenders, little research existed about adolescent female offenders.…”

“…While much was known about risk and protective factors among adolescent male offenders, little research existed about adolescent female offenders. In 2003, Odgers and Marlene Moretti, her former adviser from Simon Fraser University, organized a conference to provide a comprehensive overview of what was then known about aggressive adolescent females (Odgers et al, 2004). The conference results provided the impetus for Moretti, Odgers and me to develop the Gender and Aggression Project that focused on risk and protective factors among incarcerated females in Virginia and Vancouver.…”