The Structured Interview of Family Risk Assessment in Clinical Use: A Study with Parents of Juvenile Offenders in Detention

Abstract

In the juvenile clinical forensic settings risk assessment, instruments that allow a dynamic understanding of the interaction between family risk and protective factors are needed.<0} This study aims to contribute to the validation of the Structured Interview of Family Risk Assessment (SIFAR) in juvenile clinical forensic practice. Using a quasi-experimental design, the effects of a family program on risk and protective family factors were assessed with SIFAR and the YLS/CMI. Non-parametric methods were used.<0}<0}<0} The participants were a convenience sample of 16 parents (8 from a control group and 8 from an experimental group) of detained adolescent male delinquents in Portuguese forensic facilities. The YLS/CMI as an actuarial risk assessment tool and SIFAR as a structured professional judgment toll were used. SIFAR and YLS/CMI showed the effects of the program in reducing the family risk on this sample and the usefulness of the complementary use of both risk assessment tools. The findings show that SIFAR is sensitive to changes in the family assessment risk, allowing the understanding of the family risk and protective factors changes and dynamics, being a suitable instrument for case management.