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Women's Risk Factors and Their Contributions to Existing Risk/Needs Assessment: The Current Status of a Gender-Responsive Supplement

NCJ Number
229777
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 37 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2010 Pages: 261-288
Author(s)
Patricia Van Voorhis; Emily M. Wright; Emily Salisbury; Ashley Bauman
Date Published
March 2010
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This study examined the existing risk/needs assessment for women offenders.
Abstract
A growing body of scholarship faults existing risk/needs assessment models for neglecting the risk factors most relevant to women offenders. In response, a series of gender-responsive assessment models were tested for their contributions to widely used gender-neutral risk needs assessments. In six of eight samples studied, subsets of the gender-responsive scales achieved statistically significant contributions to gender-neutral models. Promising results were found for the following: (a) parental stress, family support, self-efficacy, educational assets, housing safety, anger/hostility, and current mental health factors in probation samples; (b) child abuse, anger/hostility, relationship dysfunction, family support, and current mental health factors among prisoners; and (c) adult victimization, anger/hostility, educational assets, and family support among released inmates. The predictive validity of gender-neutral assessments was strong in seven of eight samples studied. However, findings for both gender-neutral and gender-responsive domains suggested different treatment priorities for women from those currently put forward in correctional theory and policy. Tables, notes, and references(Published Abstract)