Psychologists have always played a key role in determining how the juvenile justice system assesses and treats young offenders. Recent neuropsychological findings shows that there are important developmental differences between juvenile offenders, such as varying levels of maturity, risk potential, and amenability to treatment, not to mention individualized personality traits and possible mental disorders. Psychologists must therefore strive for targeted rehabilitation services to avoid unfair treatment and redirect youth to healthier life choices.
This book provides forensic clinicians with practical strategies for evaluating juvenile offenders and seeking individualized rehabilitation services that will redirect youth to healthier life choices. It highlights five broad areas of juvenile assessment that are essential to any evaluation: veracity in reporting, personality and pathology, risk for dangerous behavior, developmental maturity, and treatment amenability. Readers will also learn how to present assessment data to judges in a thorough and understandable manner while also accounting for local laws and the political climate.

About the Author

Randall T. Salekin, PhD, is a professor and director of the Disruptive Behavior Clinic at the University of Alabama. He also serves as the Associate Director of the Center for the Prevention on Youth Behavior Problems.

Dr. Salekin is an expert in the assessment and treatment of young people with disruptive behavior disorders who are referred from the community or the juvenile court. He provides assessment, treatment, and general consultation recommendations.

Dr. Salekin is the author of the Risk - Sophistication - Treatment Inventory (RSTI) , one of the primary measures for assessing youth who have come into contact with the law. His research focuses on understanding of the causes and correlates of disruptive behavior in children, including youth with interpersonal callousness (limited prosocial emotion). In addition, his research and practice focus on the treatment of conduct problem young people with interpersonal callous traits.

Dr. Salekin's assessment and treatment efforts have been found to be both innovative and effective for youth with oppositional defiant disorders, conduct disorders, and limited prosocial emotion.

Dr. Salekin is the author of numerous research publications, the Handbook of Child and Adolescent Psychopathy, and has received both national and international recognition for his work.

Reviews

"This book is written by an authoritative figure in forensic evaluations and treatment of young delinquents. Therefore this guide book and textbook cannot be denied the status that is deserves: an authoritative input into this highly crucial and socio-politically controversial area." - PsycCRITIQUES

"The expertise of the author is evident on every page, an intricate combination of evidence-based support, statistical demographics, psychometric foundations and treatment efficacy-effectiveness research." -New England Psychologist

Book Information
ISBN 9781433819346
Author Randall Salekin
Format Hardback
Page Count 269
Imprint American Psychological Association
Publisher American Psychological Association