L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

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Barnes publishes study on impact of risk assessment in reducing disparities among juvenile offenders

Hand of a young offender against a chain-link fence.
Hand of a young offender against a chain-link fence.

July 30, 2019

Barnes Bio Photo“Risk assessment as a mechanism for reducing differential treatment of minorities by a juvenile justice system,” an article co-authored by Wilder School assistant professor Ashlee Barnes, Ph.D., was recently published in the Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice. The study examined sentencing trends over a decade within a mid-western county juvenile court for African American young offenders following the implementation of a Risk Need Responsivity Model (RNR-Model). The authors concluded that African Americans were more likely to be referred to low intensity interventions at intake after the RNR Model was implemented, suggesting disparities in contact were partially mitigated by the risk assessment approach. Read the full article.