Examining the Effectiveness of Specialist Assessment and Treatment for Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Youth Who Sexually Harm

• In Event: Violent Crimes in Australia: Intimate Partner Abuse and Juvenile/Youth Sexual Offending

Abstract

In Australia, youth account for a large proportion of those who sexually harm, with Indigenous youth being further overrepresented. Despite the high proportion of Indigenous youth who sexually harm, sexual recidivism risk assessment measures available for use with this population are largely lacking. Furthermore, the predictive accuracies of measures designed to assess the risk of sexual recidivism for youth populations are largely unknown. In exploring the effectiveness of specialist assessment for youth who sexually harm, the purpose of this study was to validate the Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II, a sexual recidivism risk assessment measure, for use with Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth who sexually harm in an Australian context. Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II scores are assessed to test their relative contribution to the prediction of sexual, non-sexual violent, and non-sexual and non-violent recidivism and to determine whether validity differs based on cultural heritage (Indigenous/non-Indigenous). Preliminary analyses suggest that the validity of the Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II in predicting the risk of recidivism differs based on cultural heritage. The findings of this study may help to identify the strengths and limitations of the Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II for youth who sexually harm as well as encourage the development of appropriate risk assessment, particularly for Indigenous youth.

Author

• Timea Molnar, Griffith University