Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Juvenile Delinquency 85

again, others with fewer do. This makes reliable decisions about who needs
to be detained in a secure facility difficult. There are now instruments for
assessing and weighting various risk factors, for example, the Early Assess-
ment Risk List (EARL) in North America is well validated, as is the ASSET
system in the UK. The latter, for example, predicts reconviction within two
years with 70% accuracy. Factors assessed are shown in Box 7.2.

Box 7.2Factors to take into account in a risk assessment of young

offenders

Index offence

Seriousness

Nature and quality

Victim characteristics

Intention and motive

Role in offence

Behaviour

Attitude to offence

Empathy for victim

Compassion for others

Past offences

Juvenile record

Number of previous arrests

Convictions for violence

Cautions

Self-reported offending

Past behavioural problems

Violence

Self-harm

Fire-setting

Cruelty to children

Cruelty to animals

While society is concerned about the safety of others, it is wise to
remember the high rate of self-harm in young offenders, especially when
locked up, and assess this too (see Chapter 12 on deliberate self-harm and
suicide). Attention should also be given to the environment the young
person has come from, including protective factors such as non-deviant
friends, a supportive relationship from a non-criminal adult, or skills giving
self-esteem and the opportunity for constructive activity or employment.
Conversely, the risks inherent in the environment, as well as the person,
should be assessed, since offending behaviour also requires opportunity
and stimuli, which are often less predictable. Does the young person go
out at night to notorious drug spots? Do his friends inject narcotics? Are
any of them HIV positive? Does he see friends outside nightclubs known