Page 62 - Preventing Youth Violence

measured in the treatment group only (Marsden & Torgerson, 2012).

Participants in the CSJP III case management were first screened and then selected into
the programme by a pre-test risk assessment instrument. The pre-test was done to establish

a baseline for the overall risk level, and the individual domains, and was followed by the

intervention. In the CSJP III, intervention refers to the delivery of a menu of services in
response to the criminogenic needs identified during the client’s initial risk assessment.
These services include prevocational education and vocational skills training with stipend

support; motivational interviewing; individual, group and family psychotherapy; treatment
for substance abuse, and job experience (details in Chapter 2). Reassessments were done
using the post-test to determine impact. For youths the reassessment was six months after

the intervention started, while for adults it was nine months. The duration of exposure
to/engagement with the intervention prior to reassessment is consistent with prevailing
research (National Research Council, 2013).

The pre- and post-test method is often utilised in experimental designs. This allows a

researcher to measure changes in the dependent variable that can be attributed to
manipulation of the independent variable. With the CSJP III methodology, the independent
variable is the case management approach, and the dependent variables are (i) the

overall risk level of the client and (ii) the risk level of specific domains.

The pre- and post-tests were administered using the Jamaican Risk Assessment: Youth
Version and Jamaican Risk Assessment: Adult Version. In respect of the dynamic factors,

which include individual factors (thinking skills, substance abuse), the post-test measures
change in risk level. Statistical analyses were done to measure the extent to which these

changes resulted from the intervention.

RESULTS

DATA ANALYSIS

The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 25, complemented by Microsoft
Excel, was used to analyse the data. It should be noted, as previously indicated, that at

the point of analysis 62.0 per cent of the active CSJP III clients had been reassessed.

The analysis on the individual domains was done using the ‘cross tabs’ method. This is where

36