What the Raw Score Doesn t Tell Us: Capturing Context in Risk Assessment

Transcription

1 What the Raw Score Doesn t Tell Us: Capturing Context in Risk Assessment Leigh Greiner, Shelley L. Brown, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON & Tracy Skilling Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Toronto, ON APLS 2012-San Juan, Puerto Rico March 2012

2 Risk Factors for Delinquency Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) Central 8 Risk Factors (Andrews & Bonta, 2010) Feminist Pathways Research (Chesney-Lind & Shelden, 2003; Daly, 1992; Holtfreter et al., 2004; Reisig, Holtfreter, & Morash, 2002) Females» unique pathways into crime» History of abuse-related trauma (e.g., Hubbard & Matthews, 2008)» Mental health problems (e.g., Holtfreter & Cupp, 2007)» Drug abuse (Reisig et al., 2006)» Problems within relationships (Van Voorhis, Salisbury, Wright, & Bauman, 2008). 2

3 Limitations of Risk Assessment Standardized measures: Developed/validated primarily with male offenders Premised on the assumption that traits can be measured out of context (Sprague, 2005) Could potentially mask important gender differences when examining risk factors at the aggregate level 3

4 Current Study Study 1: Quantitative analysis Explored profiles of male and female youthful offenders on the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI; Hoge, Andrews, & Leschied, 2002) Study 2: Qualitative analysis Content analysis of 25 transcribed interviews on two domains: substance abuse and antisocial peers 4

5 Method File Review Semi-structured interviews Part of larger SSHRC funded project entitled: Gendered Pathways to Delinquency and Implications for Risk Assessment Interviews tape-recorded and transcribed YLS/CMI (Hoge, Andrews, & Leschied, 2002) scored by trained undergraduate/graduate student Content Analysis of transcribed interviews 5

6 Participants- Study 1 Quantitative Component (N = 195) Males (n = 134) 14 to 21 years of age (M = 17.1, SD = 1.2) 35% Caucasian, 33% African American, 32% Other 31% Closed/Open Custody, 53% Remand, 14% Probation, 2% Other Females (n = 61) 14 to 20 years of age (M = 16.8, SD = 1.2) 64% Caucasian, 23% African American, 23% Other 21% Closed/Open Custody, 54% Remand, 23% Probation, 2% Other 6

7 Results-Study 1 YLS/CMI Examination of Gender Differences Domain (# items) Males M (SD) Females M (SD) Cohen s D Criminal History (5) 2.44 (1.69) 1.97 (1.66).30 Antisocial Peers (4) 2.75 (1.18) 2.62 (1.34).10 Criminal Attitudes (5) 2.12 (1.22) 1.85 (1.42).20 Antisocial Personality (7) 3.29 (1.46) 3.46 (1.35) -.12 Substance Abuse (5) 2.62 (1.64) 2.52 (1.52).06 Family (6) 2.45 (1.43) 2.98 (1.40) -.37 Education/Employment (7) 2.72 (1.80) 3.08 (1.96) -.19 Leisure/Recreation (3) 1.77 (0.90) 1.70 (0.90).08 TOTAL SCORE (7.42) (7.60)

8 Results Study 1 Females and males appear similar in their risk/need profiles at the aggregate level. Suggests few gender differences on these genderneutral domains»some differences in family and criminal history domains»no significant differences in peers and substance use domains 8

9 Participants- Study 2 Qualitative Component (N = 25) Males (n = 13) 16 to 20 years of age (M = 17.5, SD = 1.2) 6 African American, 4 Caucasian, 3 Other 5 Closed custody, 5 Remand, 3 Probation» Substance abuse domain n = 12 (scored >1)» Peer domain n = 12 (scored >1) Females (n = 12) 15 to 19 years of age (M = 16.5, SD = 1.7) 10 Caucasian, 2 Other 5 Closed custody, 5 Remand, 2 probation» Substance abuse domain n = 11 (scored >1)» Peer domain n = 11 (scored >1) 9

10 Results- Study 2 Content Analysis: Substance Abuse Domain A. Motivations Examples Do it for fun/ to relax/ experimentation 10 Males 6 Females To cope, relieve stress and/or anxiety 2 Males 5 Females I: What makes you want to get high? P: Because it s fun [ ] there is no escaping problems and all of that shit, maybe some people do, but generally, what I was seeing with people my age is you do it to have fun and have a good time. (Female, 17) I: [ ] do you ever just do it because you were having a bad day or you just wanted to feel good or escape problems or anything like that, or is it just kind of something you do with other people? P: No, I was doing it because I had nothing. I: Like as in support or? P: I felt like I had nothing. I: Like nobody? P: Nobody, nothing. (Female, 16) P: makes me feel happy. Takes my pain away. I: Are you talking about physical pain or are you talking about emotional [pain]? P: Both. It numbs my body. When I m not high, I think about everything that I don t want to think about. (Female, 16)

11 Results-Study 2 Content Analysis: Substance Abuse Domain B. Events leading up to/contributing to substance use History of trauma 3 Males 8 Females Family history of drug use 6 Males 6 Females Uh, the night after I got abused, uh, I did an overdose. I, I don t know, I took a bunch of Ritalin and ecstasy and drank a lot of beer and it was just [messed] up. And I just remember, like, I don t know, nothing really. I guess I passed out at school on the couch. (Female, 16) My dad was a heavy drinker, and, uh, would always get frustrated with me, which usually result in him hitting me. The older I got, the more I just, started running from my problems, rather than facing them, whether it was with my dad, teachers, friends. (Male, 18) Friends/romantic partner contributes to substance use 0 Males 4 Females Well I started dating that guy for seven months, he got me into E, and then I went to this place to get E and then over there I got hooked on crystal for about a week, and while I was doing crystal, I was [messed] up enough to try crack. (Female, 16) 11

12 Results- Study 2 Content Analysis: Peers Domain Composition of Peer Group Males (n = 12) Age and Gender Mostly older males (n = 4) Most/some older, both genders (n = 4) Same-age peers (n = 2) Females (n = 11) Mostly older males (n = 4) Mostly older females (n = 1) No/Few friends (n = 3) Same-age peers (n = 3) Romantic Partner Antisocial (n = 0) Pro-social (n = 8) Antisocial (n = 8) Used to be antisocial (n = 2 ) Pro-social (n = 3) Gang affiliations YO/Peers affiliated with gang (n = 6) Mom/ Dad affiliated with gang (n = 2) Boyfriend affiliated with a gang (n = 1)

13 Conclusions & Implications Substance Abuse Females more likely to use drugs/alcohol as a coping mechanism (Covington & Bloom, 2007). In line with pathways research (e.g., Daly, 1994), some overlap among males and females in motivations for, and events leading to substance use. Peers Females have more older, opposite-sex peers, and more antisocial romantic partners than males (e.g., Halpern et al., 2007). Males have more same-sex peers, and more gang affiliations than females. 13

14 Conclusions & Implications Context not captured with existing measures Context not sought» likely not to obtain it. Contextual factors important for: Understanding gender differences in risk/need Treatment & responsivity issues

15 Limitations Preliminary results Semi-structured interview limited contextual information provided. Difficult to look at risk factors in isolation 15

16 Future Directions Bridge the gap between assessment and treatment/case planning Development of: Gender-informed contextual supplements to pre-existing gender-neutral risk tools New female-specific risk assessment tools 16

17 Thank You! Contact Information: Leigh Greiner, Ph.D. candidate Gender and Crime Research Lab Department of Psychology, Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6 17