Probation Intensity, Self-Reported Offending, and Psychopathy in Juveniles on Probation for Serious Offenses.

This study examines the relationship between level of supervision by the juvenile probation officers (JPO) and an adolescent's offending, considering the characteristics of juvenile offenders (specifically, level of psychopathy). Data are taken from the Pathways to Desistance Study on a subset of 859 juvenile offenders. We found that the level of probation officer supervision was not consistently related to the juvenile's risk of recidivism, and level of supervision did not affect self-reported offending. However, risk level is consistently related to offending behavior, more so than the level of supervision and other characteristics of these youths. Level of psychopathy does not moderate the relationship of self-reported offending and level of supervision. These results highlight the need for more integration of risk assessment tools into juvenile probation practices and the possibility of devising methods to focus this practice to make it more effective.