Risk profiles and the YLS/CMI: examining mean differences in gender, race, Hispanic origin, child service history, gangs, and offence type

Abstract

The YLS/CMI is among the most widely used tools for youth offender risk-assessment. However, it has been heavily criticized for its use on females, racial and ethnic minorities, dual-status youth, gang members, and different offence types. The current study conducted a secondary analysis using a sample of 1679 youth offenders provided by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). A combination of bivariate and multivariate statistics were conducted using gender, race, Hispanic origin, child service history (chs), gang affiliation, and offence type as independent variables to examine mean differences in the YLS/CMI total score, and eight subcomponents. Significant differences in the total score and its eight subcomponents were found for gender, race, CHS, gang affiliation, and offence type. The current study provides support that challenges the validity of the YLS/CMI as it applies to females, African-Americans, dual-status youth, gang members, and different offence types.