Does Gender Moderate the Predictive Utility of the Level of Service Inventory—Revised (LSI-R) for Serious Violent Offenders? (2009)

Abstract
A prison inmate’s risk of recidivism is central to decisions about whether to release her to serve a portion of her sentence on parole. Although several tools have been developed to improve accuracy in estimating the risk of future reoffense, few have been validated with the ever-growing population of female offenders. This study compared the utility of the Level of Service Inventory—Revised (LSI-R) in predicting recidivism for 70 female and 1,035 male offenders who had been convicted of serious violent offenses. The LSI-R predicted 1-year general recidivism quite well for women. Although gender did not moderate the utility of the LSI-R in predicting recidivism, risk factors that best predicted recidivism differed for men and women. Implications for risk assessment and parole decision making with female inmates are discussed.
 

Manchak, S., Skeem, J., Douglas, K., & Siranosian, M. (2009).  Does gender moderate the predictive utility of the Revised Level of Service Inventory (LSI-R) for serious violent offenders?  Criminal Justice & Behavior, 35, 425-442. doi:10.1177/0093854809333058