Risk-Need Profiles of Serious and Chronic Female Juvenile Offenders: Implications for Female Juvenile Correctional Programming

Understanding differences and similarities between male and female juvenile offenders is critically important for determining the treatment needs of each group. Less is known, however, about the similarities and differences among female juvenile offenders and the variation in their needs, risks, and psychosocial profiles. Understanding the variation among female juvenile offenders could lead to improvements in gender-responsive interventions and treatment. Latent profile analysis was conducted to construct risk-need profiles in a state-based sample of incarcerated girls (N = 203) based on a range of psychosocial subscales covering family, peer, school and cognitive and emotional processes, psychopathology, and antisocial outcomes. Findings revealed four distinct groups/profiles with varying levels of risk-needs—Aggression Only (51%), Alcohol and Drug Use (19%), Socioemotional and Family Relationship Problems (24%), and Severe Alcohol and Drug Use (6%)—warranting the need for varying levels of treatment intensity and different treatment components across subgroups, ranging from less to more extensive.