The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has recognized several factors which influence the juvenile’s risk of reoffending. These factors include the offender’s age at first referral, the number of prior referrals, the juvenile’s current offense, drug or alcohol problems, negative peers, difficulties in school and family problems (Greene & Heilbrun, 2014). Andrews, Bonta, and Hoge explain three considerations which are based upon the risk and risk-relevant needs of adjudicated juveniles. These considerations are referred to as RNR: risk, need and responsivity. The team defines the term risk as the likelihood of the juvenile committing future offenses. They describe needs as the inadequacies of the juvenile. For example, substance abuse, family or educational problems, and procriminal attitudes. The team explains that responsivity refers to the probability of a favorable response to the intervention, and the influences which may affect such a result (Greene & Heilbrun, …show more content…
The first is the Structured Assessment of Violent Risk in Youth (SAVRY). The second is the Youth Level of Service/.Case management Inventory (Greene & Heilbrun, 2014). Both of these assessment tools require the user to consider such factors as the nature of current and previous offenses, as well as contextual and personal factors such as family, school, peers, substance abuse, and anger management (Greene & Heilbrun, 2014). Evaluating adjudicated youth on such dimensions enables psychologists to consider influences which are most strongly associated with the risk and needs of the offender. It also provides important information for intervention planning. Finally, these tools provide a means of measuring the progress and current status of the offender (Greene & Heilbrun,