AUTOMATED (COMPUTER SCORED) ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS

Applications:  Juvenile sex offender assessment, identification of juvenile sexually deviate and paraphiliac behavior as well as court-related assessments.  Courts, juvenile probation departments, community corrections, special sex offender caseloads and sex offender treatment programs use the SAI-Juvenile.

Description:  The SAI-Juvenile identifies deviate and paraphiliac behavior in juveniles (male and female) accused or convicted of sexual offenses.  The SAI-Juvenile has 13 scales (measures) 1.  Test Item Truthfulness, 2. Sex Item Truthfulness, 3. Sexual Adjustment, 4. Child (Pedophile) Molest, 5. Sexual (Rape) Assault, 6. Exhibitionism, 7. Incest Classification, 8. Violence (Lethality), 9. Antisocial, 10. Distress, 11. Impulsiveness, 12. Alcohol and 13. Drugs.

Most sex offenders attempt to minimize their problems, which magnifies the importance of the SAI-Juvenile's two Truthfulness Scales.  The SAI-Juvenile has proven to be a valid, reliable, accurate and objective juvenile sex offender assessment instrument or test.

A Free Examination Kit link allows interested parties to try out the SAI-juvenile and see what it does before purchasing it. The Examination Kit contains one test applications.

Thirteen SAI-Juvenile Scales (Measures)

1.      Sex Item Truthfulness Scale: Measures how truthful the juvenile was while answering sex-related questions.  There is no attempt to trick or deceive the juvenile.  Consequently, sex-related items are easy to recognize.  This scale identifies denial, problem minimization and attempts to fake good.

2.      Test Item Truthfulness Scale: Measures how truthful the youth was while completing non-sex-related items.  Non-sex-related scales include the Alcohol Scale, Drugs Scale, Violence (Lethality) Scale, Antisocial Scale, Distress Scale and the Impulsiveness Scale.  This scale identifies denial, attempts to minimize problems and faking good.

3.      Sexual Adjustment Scale: Measures the youth’s self-reported sexual adjustment.  A high score reveals sexual dissatisfaction (as compared to other juveniles).  Norming the SAI-Juvenile on both normals and sexual deviates allows comparison scoring.  The greater the difference the greater the problem.

4.      Child (Pedophile) Molest Scale: Measures a juvenile’s sexual interests, urges and fantasies involving prepubescent children.  Pedophilia is a pathological sexual interest in children.  Isolated sexual acts with a child do not necessarily warrant the classification of pedophilia.

5.      Sexual (Rape) Assault Scale: Measures one’s proneness to sexual assault.  Rape refers to sexual intercourse against the will and over the objections of the partner.  It is often accompanied by force or the threat of force.

6.      Exhibitionism Scale: Measures a person’s need to expose their sex organs to unsuspecting individuals.  Exhibitionists are often identified by the repetitive, compulsive and patterned nature of these acts.

7.      Incest Classification: Classifies incestuous behavior, i.e., having sexual relationships with a family member (not one’s spouse).  Incest refers to coitus between persons related by blood or marriage, i.e., parents, siblings or children.  Non-coital forms of sexual intercourse do not constitute incest.

8.      Alcohol Scale: Measures alcohol use and the severity of abuse.  Alcohol refers to beer, wine and other liquors.  Alcohol is a legal or licit substance.  Alcohol consumption all too frequently is present during sexual offender’s acts.

9.      Drugs Scale: Measures illicit drug use and the severity of abuse.  Drugs refer to marijuana, crack, ecstasy, cocaine, amphetamines, barbiturates and heroin.  When both the Alcohol Scale and the Drugs Scale are elevated, the higher score usually represents the juvenile’s substance of choice.  When both the Alcohol and Drugs Scale are elevated, this identifies polysubstance abuse.

10.  Violence (Lethality) Scale: Measures the adolescents use of physical force to injure, damage or destroy.  The Violence (Lethality) Scale identifies youths who are dangerous to themselves and others.  An ever present concern when evaluating sex offenders is their violence and lethality potential.

11.  Antisocial Scale: Measures the attitudes and behaviors of selfish, ungrateful, callous and egocentric juveniles who seem to be devoid of responsibility and fail to learn from experience.  They typically manifest little guilt and remorse.  Extreme cases are often called sociopaths.

12.  Distress Scale: Measures two symptom clusters (anxiety and depression) that taken together represent distress.  The blending of these symptom clusters is clear in the definition of dysphoria, i.e., a generalized feeling of anxiety, resentment and depression.  Distress is one of the most common reasons juveniles seek counseling.

13.  Impulsiveness Scale Identifies people that abruptly engage in activities without adequate forethought, reflection or consideration of consequences. There are several definitions of "impulsive" on the web that use a variety of words like "without forethought,' "capricious," "whim," "undue haste" and "impetuous."

Summary: In summary the SAI-Juvenile assesses attitudes and behaviors that yield a sex offender profile.  The thirteen SAI-Juvenile scales collect a lot of information that is important in sex offender evaluation.

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SAI-Juvenile Scale Interpretation

An SAI-Juvenile profile interpretation includes all 13 SAI-Juvenile scales and how they interact.  Such an endeavor, although worthwhile, exceeds this websites purpose.  However, a discussion of sex-related scales and their interaction is provided by clicking on the SAI-Juvenile Scale Interpretation link.  Space on this website does not allow a complete discussion of the interaction between sex item scales and non-sex-item scales.  Yet these interrelationships are often a part of the sexual incident that brings defendants to the court’s attention.  Considerable insight and scale scoring understanding can be derived by clicking on the Scale Interpretation link and going to that webpage discussion.

Unique  Features

There are many SAI-Juvenile unique features.  For conciseness four unique features are discussed here.  A complete discussion of the SAI-Juvenile’s unique features is contained on the Risk & Needs Assessment, Inc. website www.riskandneeds.com.  Four unique features follow:

Two Truthfulness Scales: In juvenile assessment, let alone juvenile sex offender assessment, it is very important to know if the juvenile was being truthful while being tested.  It is equally important to know if the youth was lying to sex-related questions, non-sex-related questions or to the entire test.  Most sex offenders know the severe consequences associated with sex offenses, consequently these two Truthfulness Scales are considered very important in juvenile sex offender testing.

Violence (Lethality) Scale: Measures a juvenile’s dangerousness to self and others.  This scale provides important information on its own merits and more when evaluating juvenile sex offenders.  The interaction between the Violence (Lethality) Scale and the Sexual (Rape) Assault Scale is helpful in understanding violent sex offenders.

Combination of sex and non-sex scales: Sex offences don’t occur in a vacuum.  To understand sex offenders it’s helpful to review their six sex-related scale scores and their seven non-sex-related scales scores.  Multiple scales provide more juvenile sex offender understanding.  And as noted earlier SAI-Juvenile scales and their interactions are discussed on a separate webpage.  Click on the Scale Interpretation link to read that discussion.

Four ways to administer the SAI - Juvenile:  This test can be administered in four different ways:  1. Paper-pencil test administration.is by far the most popular way to administer tests. Paper - pencil testing allows both individual and group testing.   2. On the computer monitor. or screen. Testing on the computer monitor is usually faster than paper- pencil testing. However, many assessment agencies do not want to tie up their computers for test administration. 3. Human-voice-audio involves a computer and headset. Test items are read to the youth in English or Spanish. This procedure helps when juveniles have reading impairments. It also helps resolve language, cultural, and communication difficulties. And 4. Online (Internet) testing. Risk & Needs Assessment, Inc. (Risk & Needs) tests are now offfered over its internet (online) testing platform www.online-testing.com.Each of these test administration options has unique advantages. Risk & Needs wants to offer test administration solutions that meet assessors, evaluators and testers needs.

Confidentiality: Is assured with the SAI-Juvenile.  This proprietary name deletion procedure involves a few keystrokes.  All juvenile names are deleted while keeping demographics and test data for subsequent research analysis. This procedure insures client confidentiality and compliance with HIPAA (federal regulation 45 C.F.R. 164.501) requirements.

As noted earlier, more detailed SAI-Juvenile information is available on the Risk & Needs website www.riskandneeds.com.  Additional information can also be provided upon request.  Risk & Needs telephone number is (602) 234-3405, its fax number is (602) 266-8227 and its e-mail address is skarca@riskandneeds.com.  You are also invited to visit Risk & Needs website at www.riskandneeds.com.

NAVIGATION  LINKS
SAI-Juvenile

= The SAI-Juvenile Example Report link takes you to the example report.  Sometimes it helps to see what a test report looks like.  It also shows how SAI-Juvenile test data is summarized and presented.

= The Test Comparison Checklist provides information in a checklist format that helps compare the SAI-Juvenile with other tests.

= The Cost (Test Unit Fee) link explains SAI-Juvenile cost in a strait forward manner.  The SAI-Juvenile is a very affordable test.

= The Free Examination Kit link allows interested parties to try out the SAI-Juvenile and see what it does before purchasing it.  The Examination Kit contains one-test applications.

= Click on this SAI-Juvenile Scale Interpretation link to better understand scale interrelationships.

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SAI-JUVENILE  RESEARCH

SAI-Juvenile normative research involved criterion research methodology.  SAI-Juvenile scales were compared to other tests, polygraph exams and experienced sex offender staff ratings.  This research demonstrated impressive validity, reliability and accuracy.  Much of this research is summarized in the “SAI: An Inventory of Scientific Findings.” which can be provided upon request.

SAI-Juvenile internal consistencies (coefficient alpha) for SAI-Juvenile scales are reported for 766 juvenile sex offenders in a study completed in 2002.

All SAI-Juvenile scales have alpha coefficients well above the professionally accepted standard of .80 and are highly reliable.  All coefficient alphas are significant at the p<.001 level of significance.  Yes, that’s two zeros to the right of the decimal point.  And ongoing database research strongly supports SAI-Juvenile validity, reliability and accuracy.  To review an SAI-Juvenile research study click on the SAI-Juvenile Research Study link.

Sometimes it’s helpful to compare tests you are interested in, to help avoid comparing apples and oranges, it is suggested that you use a Test Comparison Checklist.  Such an approach helps focus on important test features.  To review an SAI-Juvenile checklist, click on the Test Comparison Checklist link.  This checklist itemizes test features that contribute to juvenile sex offender understanding.

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SAI-JUVENILE
EXAMPLE REPORT

An example SAI-Juvenile report is provided for review. Each of these reports utilizes the same format or outline, yet they are highly individualized. These five-page reports summarize SAI-Juvenile scale scores, explain what they mean and present score-related recommendations. The thirteen SAI-Juvenile scales are organized as follows: Test Item Truthfulness and Sex Item Truthfulness Scales are discussed on page 1; the sex-related scales (Sexual Adjustment, Child Molest, Sexual Assault, Incest and Exhibitionism) are examined on page 2; with non-sex-related scales (Alcohol, Drugs, Violence, Antisocial, Distress and Impulsiveness) presented on pages 3 and 4. Space is provided for staff observations/recommendations and their signature. Page 5 summarizes significant items (direct admissions and unusual answers) and the built-in multiple choice (items 172 through 195).

View a SAI Juvenile example report by clicking this Example Report link

Additional information can be provided upon request.  Contact Risk & Needs Assessment, Inc., P.O. Box 44828, Phoenix, Arizona  85064-4828.  Our telephone number is (602) 234-3506, our fax number is (602) 266-8227 and our e-mail address is skarca@riskandneeds.com.

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The Sexual Adjustment Inventory (SAI) and the SAI- Juvenile are discussed in chapter 7 of the book titled "The Sex Offender: Issues in Assessment."

Linderman, H.H. (205), Chapter 7, Sex Offender Tests: SAI and SAI-Juvenile. Schwartz, B.A. (Ed.), The Sex Offender: Issues in Assessment, Chapter 7, Volume V (pp. 7-1--7-32), Civic Research Institute.

Risk & Needs Assessment, Inc.
P.O. Box 44828
Phoenix, Arizona 85064-4828

Telephone: (602) 234-3506
Fax: (602) 266-8227
E-mail:skarca@riskandneeds.com

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