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Identification of potential juvenile offenders

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European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Conclusion

In this article, we have reviewed the guidelines, from the criminological prediction tradition, that should be followed while developing a screening device for the identification of potential juvenile offenders. We were also able to recognize an appropriate screening strategy for prevention, even if more validation studies have to be conducted. Screening of juvenile offenders should rest on multiple stages, informants, methods, and variable domains. In addition, it was not possible to identify a satisfactory instrument for prevention screening. The candidate devices all have significant methodological deficiencies. Also, it was not possible to identify the particular predictors to retain for screening, even if there is a large consensus about the variable domains that are most important. To summarize, there is much technical work still to be done before we can develop appropriate screening instruments for the identification of potential offenders. Some screening strategies and instruments are promising, but none can be recommended for immediate use to policy-makers and practitioners. The state-of-the-art for the identification of potential juvenile offenders is such that the research community can only indicate how to develop good screening instruments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychoeducation, Université de Montréal, Canada

    Marc Le Blanc (SRC Professor)

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  1. Marc Le Blanc
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The research for this article was commissioned by the Study Group on Serious/Violent/ Chronic Offenders of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the Department of Justice of the United States of America. This paper is an adaptation of a more comprehensive review on screening for that study group.

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Le Blanc, M. Identification of potential juvenile offenders. Eur J Crim Policy Res 5, 9–32 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02677605

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