http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/23192/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22916/ 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z This study was aimed at finding risk factors that predict both overall recidivism and severity of recidivism in serious juvenile offenders. Seventy static and dynamic risk factors associated with family characteristics, peers, psychopathology, substance abuse, psychological factors, and behavior during treatment were assessed with the Juvenile Forensic Profile in a sample of 728 juvenile offenders. Official reconviction data were used to register recidivism with a minimum time at risk of 2 years. Severity of offending was categorized according to the maximum sentence for the offense committed combined with expert opinion. Several risk factors for recidivism were found: past criminal behavior (number of past offenses, young age at first offense, unknown victim of past offenses), conduct disorder, family risk factors (poor parenting skills, criminal behavior in the family, a history of physical and emotional abuse), involvement with criminal peers, and lack of treatment adherence (aggression during treatment, lack of coping strategies). Having an unknown victim in past offenses, criminal behavior in the family, lack of treatment adherence, and lack of positive coping strategies were predictive of serious (violent) recidivism. The results are discussed in terms of their use for risk assessment and in improving treatment effect. Targeting poor parenting skills, involvement in criminal environment, lack of treatment adherence, and problematic coping strategies should reduce the severity of recidivism. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/19506/ 2010-05-19T00:00:00Z In the Netherlands, the top 5% most serious juvenile off enders are placed in juvenile justice institutions under a mandatory treatment order. After two to six years of treatment, the chance of recidivism is supposed to have been reduced considerably. The new off enses that do take place, are supposed to be less severe in nature than the off enses that were committed before treatment. Over the years, several interventions aimed at these serious off enders have been developed. However, the eff ectiveness of most interventions has not been demonstrated yet. Specialists in the fi eld have said for years that improvement of interventions is needed. However, until now little research has been done on risk factors that predict recidivism in this group of very serious off enders. This is important because of the risk of this subgroup for society, for the victims and for the juveniles themselves. If more is known about the precursors of serious juvenile off ending and recidivism, existing interventions may be improved, new interventions may be developed and the eff ectiveness of interventions may be higher. However, the accuracy of current ways of predicting off ending and future recidivism is still far from perfect with eff ect sizes that are seldom higher than 0.70 (Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2009). Thus new ways to come to evidence-based decision making and the development of evidence-based interventions need to be explored. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/23076/ 2010-02-01T00:00:00Z Abstract BACKGROUND: There has been a lot of research on risk factors for recidivism among juvenile offenders, in general, and on individual risk factors, but less focus on subgroups of serious juvenile offenders and prediction of recidivism within these. OBJECTIVE: To find an optimal classification of risk items and to test the predictive value of the resultant factors with respect to severity of recidivism among serious juvenile offenders. METHOD: Seventy static and dynamic risk factors in 1154 juvenile offenders were registered with the Juvenile Forensic Profile. Recidivism data were collected on 728 of these offenders with a time at risk of at least 2 years. After factor analysis, independent sample t-tests were used to indicate differences between recidivists and non-recidivists. Logistic multiple linear regression analyses were used to test the potential predictive value of the factors for violent or serious recidivism. RESULTS: A nine-factor solution best accounted for the data. The factors were: antisocial behaviour during treatment, sexual problems, family problems, axis-1 psychopathology, offence characteristics, conscience and empathy, intellectual and social capacities, social network, and substance abuse. Regression analysis showed that the factors antisocial behaviour during treatment, family problems and axis-1 psychopathology were associated with seriousness of recidivism. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The significance of family problems and antisocial behaviour during treatments suggest that specific attention to these factors may be important in reducing recidivism. The fact that antisocial behaviour during treatment consists mainly of dynamic risk factors is hopeful as these can be influenced by treatment. Consideration of young offenders by subgroup rather than as a homogenous population is likely to yield the best information about risk of serious re-offending and the management of that risk. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/23053/ 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z A large sample of 74% of all serious juvenile offenders in the Netherlands (n = 1,147) was studied with the aim to define which risk factors play a role in the this high-risk group. The Juvenile Forensic Profile with good psychometric qualities was developed to measure seventy risk factors in seven domains: ‘history of criminal behavior,’ ‘family and environment,’ ‘offense-related risk factors and substance use,’ ‘psychological factors,’ psychopathology,’ ‘social behavior/ interpersonal relationships,’ and ‘behavior during stay in the institution.’ A risk profile of serious juvenile offenders was created and the change in the population of ten years time was analyzed. There was improvement on some risk factors in the sample, and significant increase on one risk factor (IQ). In conclusion, the youth who were given mandatory treatment orders in 1995 had similar risk factors to those who were given such orders in 2005.