A scoping review of strengths-based risk and needs assessments for youth involved in the juvenile legal system

Scholars have purported that strengths are an important—but often overlooked—component of risk and needs assessment, resulting in a body of literature primarily focused on deficits. Moreover, scholars have theorized that incorporating strengths in risk and needs assessment can lead to less stigmatization of individuals involved in the legal system and more accurate recidivism prediction models. Research in this area is growing, and in need of a comprehensive review to better understand the empirical value of strengths in juvenile legal system rehabilitation, to support past theoretical assertions. The current study is a scoping review of the existing strengths-based juvenile risk and needs assessment literature. Specifically, the review summarized and described 62 studies that investigated the predictive validity of strengths in juvenile risk and needs assessment. The scoping review revealed several important findings. First, there are at least ten validated juvenile risk and needs assessments that include strengths. Second, over 90% of reviewed studies identified a significant promotive effect of strength total scores on recidivism, suggesting their theoretical, empirical, and practical utility. Finally, the predictive validity of strengths in risk and needs assessment may vary based on theoretical model (e.g., protective/buffering), recidivism outcome (e.g., violent offenses), and sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity). Future directions that specify the importance of further investigations of the role of strengths in correctional assessment and rehabilitation are discussed.