Introduction
Professionals often assess the risk of future violence in young people involved in the legal system or psychiatric facilities. One commonly used tool is the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability: Adolescent Version (START: AV). This tool helps identify both strengths and vulnerabilities. While clinicians typically complete these assessments, young people are rarely asked to share their own views. The study explored how adolescents in a secure forensic psychiatric facility perceived their risks of violence. The researchers compared these self-assessments to assessments the youth’s clinicians conducted.
Implications
Listening to adolescent views on their risks and strengths is key to improve safety management and assessment in secure settings. If youth can pinpoint when they feel at risk or vulnerable, staff can respond earlier and more effectively. Including youth in these assessments also promotes and a sense of involved in their care. This can lead to better treatment outcomes. Overall, the study supports the idea that young people’s voices matter in decisions about their health and safety.
Methods
Researchers worked with 60 adolescents in a secure psychiatric facility in Ontario, Canada. Both the youth and their clinicians completed the START: AV. This asked about 26 factors that could either increase (“vulnerabilities”) or reduce (“strengths”) risks of harm. Researchers then compared how youth and clinicians rated the same factors. They assessed how ratings compared to past incidents of aggression and how well youth functioned each day in the facility.
Findings
The study noted that youth and clinicians often had different views, especially when it came to identifying vulnerability. Results more readily matched when rating strengths. Interestingly, recent aggressive behaviour influenced vulnerability ratings for both youth and clinicians. This suggests that young people might be able to recognize their own risks in meaningful ways. Although youth ratings did not always align with those of clinicians, youth self-assessments still provided valuable information.
Limitations
Results achieved in a single facility do not necessarily reflect what would happen in other settings. Also, the results only included youth capable of completing the assessments. This means that results do not necessarily apply to adolescents with more severe cognitive or communication challenges. Finally, the team only studied one point in time. This doesn’t show whether the assessments can truly predict future behaviour over a longer period.
References
Viljoen, J. L., Penney, S. R., Zarzuelo, R., Sidhu, S., Beaudry, M., Ha, C. Y. Y., & Bouchard, J. L. B. (2024). Perceptions of violence risk among youth in forensic psychiatric care: An examination of self- and clinician ratings using the START:AV. Journal of Experimental Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-024-09658-1
About the Author
Maryam Dawood is an Honours Bachelor of Science graduate in Forensic Psychology from the University of Toronto, with research experience centered on legal decision-making, correctional psychology, and the stigmatization of offenders. She intends to pursue a Master of Science in Forensic Psychology, where she will explore wrongful convictions and self-stigma among justice-involved individuals to support evidence-based reforms and rehabilitation. Connect with Maryam on LinkedIn.
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