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Browsing by Author "Ledi, Denise"

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    The association between presentence risk evaluations and sentencing outcome
    (2015) Jung, Sandy; Ennis, Liam; Brown, Kelsey; Ledi, Denise; Jung, Sandy
    Presentence risk evaluations are routinely submitted to judges prior to sentencing with the goal of guiding treatment recommendations and informing sentencing decisions. Empirical research has yet to examine this association. In the present study, the correspondence between presentence risk evaluations and sentencing outcomes was explored using the files of 165 offenders who had completed LSI-R, LS/CMI, and/or HCR-20 protocols. We found that sentencing outcome was associated with risk assessment scores, particularly from the Level of Service Measures. This study's findings suggest that presentence risk evaluations have a strong association with the sentencing decisions of the judiciary, suggesting that sentencing procedures may reflect evidence-based practice.
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    Evaluating the concurrent validity of the HCR-20 scales
    (2013) Jung, Sandy; Ledi, Denise; Daniels, Melissa
    The Historical, Clinical and Risk Management (HCR-20) violence risk assessment scheme was constructed to be applicable to a variety of populations, including civil and forensic psychiatric patients and correctional offenders. Research has demonstrated that the HCR-20 is strongly linked to forensic hospital readmissions and to increased risk for future violence. However, few studies have examined the psychometric properties of the HCR-20; of particular interest, the HCR-20 clinical and risk management (RM) items have had little cross-validation with other measures using independent samples. The present study is an archival examination of offenders who have been assessed at a forensic outpatient clinic and for whom the HCR-20 was used as part of the assessment. Concurrent validity was explored by correlating the Historical, Clinical and RM scales and its items with theoretically relevant constructs as measured by other psychometric measures, including the personality assessment inventory. A series of analyses to investigate the validity of the HCR-20 are reported using a small community forensic sample originally assessed at the presentence stage in the legal process. This research provides a much needed investigation of the concurrent validity for the scales and items of the HCR-20.
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    An examination of convergent constructs among Level of Service measures and other measures
    (2012) Jung, Sandy; Daniels, Melissa; Friesen, Michael; Ledi, Denise; Jung, Sandy
    The Level of Service Inventory-Revised and its successor, the Level of Service/Case Management Inventory are theoretically based risk assessment measures derived from what are known as the “Central Eight” risk factors. These Level of Service instruments have been empirically demonstrated to predict recidivism; however, given the importance of using the these instruments to assess the central eight risk factors, it is also important to ensure that the measures’ subscales are actually assessing the intended constructs. In the present study, files of 219 offenders were coded to investigate the concurrent and discriminant validity by correlating seven of the Level of Service subscales with construct-relevant scales of the Personality Assessment Inventory, Cormier-Lang Criminal History Score, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Assessment-2, and intelligence measures. The results provide preliminary support for the construct validity of the domains measured by the Level of Service instruments, with the exception of the Emotional/Personal subscale.