Robert D. Hoge

Classification for Effective Rehabilitation: Rediscovering Psychology

Four principles of classification for effective rehabilitation are reviewed: risk, need, responsivity, and professional override. Many examples of Case x Treatment interactions are presented to illustrate the principles.

Reliability and Validity Analyses of the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory:

The Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) is a structured assessment tool designed to facilitate the effective intervention and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders by assessing each youth’s risk level and criminogenic needs. The present study examined the YLS/CMI’s reliability and validity in a sample of 107 juvenile offenders who were court-referred for mental health assessments. Results demonstrated the YLS/CMI’s internal consistency and interrater reliability. Moreover, the instrument’s predictive validity was substantiated on a number of recidivism measures for both males and females. Limitations of the current findings are discussed.

Standardized Instruments for Assessing Risk and Need in Youthful Offenders

Judgments about risk and need factors form the basis for important decisions about youths within juvenile justice systems. The judgments are particularly relevant to preadjudicatory diversion and detention actions as well as postadjudication disposition decisions. Research has shown, however, that these judgments are frequently made through informal and unsystematic procedures, and this in turn often results in inconsistency and bias in the decision process. An argument is developed in this article that these processes would be improved with the use of standardized risk and need assessment instruments. Three representative measures are described.

Psychometric Properties of Teacher-Judgment Measures of Pupil Aptitudes, Classroom Behaviors, and Achievement Levels:

The paper addresses teacher-judgment measures of pupil behaviors, aptitudes, and achievement levels, beginning with a discussion of the applied and research contexts in which these measures are relevant. Analyses relating to the reliability and validity of the measures are reviewed, with the analyses drawn from a variety of literatures. The paper sets forth conclusions regarding the psychometric properties of these judgment measures, suggestions regarding future research on the measures, and statements about the place of these measures within the larger teacher-judgment literature.

Criminal Psychopathy A Risk-and-Need Perspective

The present study explored whether a risk/needs perspective could assist in understanding the construct of criminal psychopathy as assessed by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Three hundred and twenty-one inmates serving sentences for violent offenses were assessed on the PCL-R and administered a variety of psychometric measures relevant to criminal conduct. Using a traditional PCL-R cutoff, 36 participants (11.2%) were designated as psychopaths and 285 (88.8%) were designated as nonpsychopaths and compared on various criminal conduct and psychometric variables. Results showed that psychopaths had significantly greater risk/needs areas than nonpsychopaths, and this pattern remained when alternative diagnostic cutoffs were used. Implications of the findings with respect to theory and practice are considered.

An Investigation of Self-Concept in Gifted Children

The study explored several issues respecting the self-concept in children categorized as gifted; (a) the relative independence of specific components of self-perceptions; (b) the way in which these factors relate to global self-esteem; and (c) the extent to which a developmental process operates in the evolution of the self-concept. Data were collected from a sample of pupils enrolled in enrichment classes, grades 5 through 8. Measures included the Self-Perception Profile for Children and a teacher-rating measure of pupil attributes. The results confirmed the relative independence of the specific components and showed that self-perceptions of social and scholastic competence and of physical appearance were the major contributors to the self-concept. There was no evidence, however, for the operation of a developmental process.

The Use of Teacher-Judgment Measures in the Identification of Gifted Pupils.

Abstract There is considerable emphasis today on the provision of special educational treatment for academically gifted pupils. A variety of selection tools are used to identify such pupils, including intelligence tests, achievement tests, creativity measures, and teacher-judgment measures. The latter type of measure forms the focus of this review, and the purpose is to assess the psychometric properties of these teacher-judgment measures in terms of the available empirical data. The major conclusion from the review is that there is little basis for the negative assessments so often associated with these measures. The paper includes recommendations regarding (a) the use of the measures in the identification of gifted pupils and (b) future research on the measures.

The family relationship index: validity data

The Family Relationship Index (FRI) is a self-report measure that provides an overall index of the quality of the family environment, as well as subscores that reflect family cohesion, expressiveness, and conflict. The current study is based on 53 families who had approached a family service agency for counseling and who had completed an FRI measure prior to intake. The construct validity of the FRI scores was evaluated by comparing them to measures of family functioning provided by experienced family therapists as part of the intake process. Support for the construct validity of the composite index and two of the subscores, Family Cohesion and Family Conflict, was obtained.

An Expanded Role for Psychological Assessments in Juvenile Justice Systems

This article describes the potential contributions of psychological assessments to the processing of youths in juvenile justice and correctional systems. Standardized psychological assessment instruments and procedures are shown to be superior to the informal and unstandardized procedures often employed in these systems, and they are also shown to lead to more effective decisions about youths. Major types of assessments relevant to juvenile justice and correctional systems are reviewed as are models for introducing psychological services into the systems.

Tests of three hypotheses regarding the predictors of delinquency.

Three hypotheses regarding the predictors of criminal activity in children and adolescents were assessed. These dealt with family, peer, and attitudinal variables, and they were explored in relation to indices based on seriousness of criminal activity and reoffending. The data were based on a sample of 338 youths who had been convicted of crimes and received probation or custody dispositions. The results provided general support for a model implicating family, peer, and attitudinal variables in youthful criminal activity. They did not, however, provide support for hypothesized interactions between family relationship and family structuring dimensions or between family relationship and peer association variables. The results did support an hypothesis regarding the independent contribution of an antisocial attitudes variable to the prediction of criminal activity.