Showing papers by "David DeMatteo published in 2011"

Federal standards for community registration of juvenile sex offenders: An evaluation of risk prediction and future implications.

Abstract: The enactment of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act in 2006 is an extension of current protective legislation aimed at establishing stricter sanctions for community-released sexual offenders. What largely separates the Adam Walsh Act from previous registration and notification laws is the crossing of traditional jurisdictional boundaries between adult and juvenile courts at the federal level. This article addresses several key concerns relating to the application of these federal standards to adolescent offenders. In addition to a review of the extant literature, we present findings from an exploratory evaluation that examines the ability of the Adam Walsh Act’s classification system to predict future offending among a sample of 112 adjudicated juvenile sex offenders over a 2-year outcome period. Results indicate that offenders who met criteria for registration did not reoffend (sexually or nonsexually) at a significantly higher rate than those who did not meet registration criteria. Implications regarding appropriate risk assessment and management of youth sexual offenders are discussed.

The Use of Measures of Psychopathy in Violence Risk Assessment

Abstract: Perhaps in part because of dissatisfaction with the more recent (and behaviorally based) DSM conceptualizations of what constitutes a psychopath, since the 1980s the construct of psychopathy has been operationalized-at least among research psychologists-primarily using instruments developed by Robert Hare and his colleagues. ese instruments include the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) (Hare, 1980), the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) (Hare, 1991, 2003), and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) (Hart, Cox, & Hare, 1995). Additionally, an instrument with highly similar item content domains, the Psychopathy20 Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) (Forth, Kosson, & Hare, 2003), was developed specically for use with adolescents.

Traumatic Experiences and Juvenile Amenability: The Role of Trauma in Forensic Evaluations and Judicial Decision Making

Abstract: The legal files of 144 juveniles charged as adults in one Pennsylvania county were reviewed to investigate whether trauma-related information was included in evaluations of amenability to treatment and how that information related to legal decisions to keep youth in criminal court or decertify them to the juvenile system. Potentially traumatic experiences (PTEs) were noted in more than 71% of evaluations. Youth with any PTE documented were more likely to remain in criminal court, have more prior arrests, report regular marijuana use, and have mental health diagnoses associated with offending behaviors. Youth with direct (versus witnessed) exposure to PTEs were more likely to have been placed out of home and to be diagnosed with other mental health disorders. However, only 6% of the evaluations specifically recommended treatment for trauma-related issues, and documentation of PTEs was not associated with the ultimate legal decision except in cases involving severe injury.

Methodological, ethical, and legal considerations in drug court research.

Abstract: Since their inception in the late 1980s, drug courts have become the most prevalent specialty court in the United States. A large body of outcome research conducted over the past two decades has demonstrated that drug courts effectively reduce drug use and criminal recidivism, which has led to the rapid proliferation of these courts. Importantly, drug court research has flourished despite the many challenges faced by researchers when working with a vulnerable population of justice-involved substance users. In this article, we highlight the most common methodological, ethical, and legal challenges encountered in drug court research, and discuss ways in which researchers can overcome these challenges to conduct high-quality research. Drug court research exemplifies how rigorous empirical investigation can be accomplished in the criminal justice system, and it can serve as a useful model for researchers working in other parts of the judicial system.

Forensic Mental Health Assessments in Death Penalty Cases

Abstract: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PREFACE 1. Overview of Forensic Mental Health Assessments in Death Penalty Cases 2. Death Penalty Litigation 3. Death Penalty Jurisprudence 4. Ethical Considerations in Death Penalty Asessments 5. Eligibility for the Death Penalty - Part 1: Atkins-Type Evaluations 6. Eligibilty for the Death Penalty - Part 2: Competance for Execution Evaluations 7. Evaluations Addressing Mitigation in Capital Sentencing 8. Evaluations of Violence Risk in Capital Sentencing 9. Orinciples of Forensic Mental Health Assessment 10. Sample Reports REFERENCES INDEX