The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is pleased to offer this web-based resource containing the results of a gender review of risk assessment instruments and treatment-focused instruments for justice-involved youth. OJJDP’s Girls Study Group (GSG) conducted a study to systematically examine the extent to which existing instruments designed for adolescents and used in the juvenile justice system are equally effective for girls and boys. The results are summarized in an OJJDP Bulletin, and this web tool was developed to accompany the Bulletin. You can view specific instruments using the alphabetical listing or you can search for instruments using keywords and filter criteria.

This web tool includes detailed information about the 143 instruments covered in the GSG review, as well as updated information about some instruments and several new instruments brought to OJJDP’s attention following the release of the Bulletin. Detailed information about the GSG review process is available on the Instrument Review Process page.

Review Categories

The researchers reviewed four types of instruments:

• risk and risk/needs assessment instruments to predict outcomes, most often recidivism
• global needs assessment instruments to provide a broad-based assessment of youths' problem areas requiring further follow up
• substance abuse instruments intended to detect alcohol or substance use, including the presence or severity of abuse, dependence, and problems associated with abuse.
• mental health instruments covering a broad scope of topics within the mental health area, from disorders to positive functioning and adaptive behaviors, in the following subcategories: antisocial behavior, abuse and trauma, depression and suicide risk, behavior ratings, self-concept and self-esteem, social-emotional competence and functioning, and general instruments that measure multiple disorders or clusters of symptoms.

For each instrument, the researchers developed the following categories for findings:

• Favorable—The instrument had positive gender-based performance information
• Unclear—The instrument had mixed or inconsistent gender-based performance information
• Unfavorable—The instrument had negative gender-based performance information
• Unknown—The instrument lacked gender-based performance information

Findings

Across all instrument types, findings regarding gender-based performance are encouraging. More than half (73) of the 143 instruments reviewed showed favorable gender-based analysis or provided gender-based development. Eight instruments had unfavorable gender-based performance, and 7 had unclear (mixed) results. A large number of instruments (55) were classified as ”unknown” because the researchers were unable to find any evidence of gender-based analysis.

Of the four categories of instruments reviewed, the mental health instruments are most sensitive to gender concerns. Results for the risk assessment instruments were the least encouraging. Out of the 35 instruments reviewed, only 5 gender-appropriate instruments were developed for multiple jurisdictions.

Updates