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Assessing Juveniles for Risk of Violence

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Abstract

Recent years have brought increasing national concern regarding violent behavior in the juvenile population (Borum 2000). Actual statistics in this regard have varied markedly depending upon definitions, specific time periods, and measures used. For example, in 1996, Snyder et al. reported that the rate of serious juvenile crime—particularly homicides—increased a startling 150% between 1985 and 1994. On the other hand, Snyder and Sickmund (1999) later reported rates for the same population were declining between 1993 and 1999. When looking specifically at male offenders, rates have significantly declined since the peak in 1994 (Viljoen et al. 2008). Nonetheless, high profile media attention, often given to serious incidents of juvenile violence, can direct national attention on the issue regardless of frequency.

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Correspondence to Mary Alice Conroy PhD, ABPP .

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Conroy, M.A. (2012). Assessing Juveniles for Risk of Violence. In: Grigorenko, E. (eds) Handbook of Juvenile Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0905-2_15

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