Guidelines for Comprehensive Psychosocial Assessment

To view guidelines for the comprehensive assessment of children and adolescents with sexually reactive or abusive behaviors, click here.

To view a set of structured headings and brief description of contents to include in a comprehensive assessment, click here.

Risk Assessment Tools

The risk assessment tools on this page were developed for Stetson School, a residential treatment program in Barre, Massachusetts, for sexually reactive children and adolescents who have engaged in sexually abusive behavior, ages 9-22. These risk assessment tools are clinical tools only, meaning that they are designed to be used as part of a comprehensive psychosocial/psychosexual assessment only! The risk tools are not actuarial (statistical), and have no psychometric properties. Although the tools were developed specifically for Stetson School, they can be applied to the assessment of juvenile sexual offenders and sexually reactive children in other treatment settings.

The tools are self-explanatory. They evaluate risk for continued sexually abusive behavior (i.e., sexual re-offense) or in the case of sexually reactive children continued sexual behavioral problems, in terms of distinct risk domains and multiple elements assigned to each domain.

The Juvenile Risk Assessment Tool (J-RAT), the Interim Modified Risk Assessment Tool (IM-RAT), the (Cognitively Impaired) Juvenile Risk Assessment Tool (CI/J-RAT), the Interim Modified Risk Assessment Tool (Cognitively Impaired Juveniles) (IM-RAT/CI), the Latency Age Sexual Adjustment and Assessment Tool (LA-SAAT), and the Latency Age Interim Risk Assessment Tool (LA-IAT) are copyright of Stetson School, but at this time are available at no charge and may be downloaded, printed, reproduced, and used without further permission.

The materials on this page are published as PDF files. You can download them for viewing, and print them for your own use, but cannot edit or make any changes to the materials. In order to open and print any of the materials on this page, you need to have a .pdf reader such as Adobe reader. The Adobe reader is free and can be downloaded from Adobe's web site.

Assessment of Sexually Abusive Adolescents (Juvenile Sexual Offenders) and Children with Sexual Behavior Problems (Sexually Reactive Children) These assessment tools are used in conjunction with and driven by a larger psychosocial assessment, and the information required for the completion of the instruments is derived from that broader assessment.

Assessment of Juvenile Sexual Offenders

These assessment tools are used in conjunction with and driven by a larger psychosocial assessment, and the information required for the completion of the instruments is derived from that broader assessment.

(1) J-RAT

The Juvenile Risk Assessment Tool (J-RAT) is designed and intended to be used for the initial assessment of male juvenile sexual offenders, assessing both static (historical) and dynamic (susceptible to change, treatment-responsive, or criminogenic) variables. As of October 2007, we are using the J-RAT Version 3 (designated V3), and will continue to use V numbers to indicate future changes.

The Juvenile Risk Assessment Tool is used to clinically assess risk for continued sexually abusive behavior (re-offending) in adolescent males. Risk is assessed through the evaluation of 12 Risk Domains, each of which contains individual risk elements pertinent to that particular risk domain. It is not an actuarial tool, and has no psychometric properties. Click here to view or download the J-RAT assessment tool (you must have a .pdf reader, such as Adobe, to view this instrument).

(2) IM-RAT

The Interim Modified Risk Assessment Tool (IM-RAT) is designed for re-evaluation over time, or as an on-going measure of assessment during treatment, and largely is a measure of dynamic factors, or responsiveness to treatment. The current version is the V3 (third) version, updated October 2007.

The Interim Modified Juvenile Risk Assessment Tool (IM-RAT) is a significantly modified version of the J-RAT, and is used to clinically re-evaluate risk for re-offending through the assessment of 16 Risk Domains, each of which contains individual risk elements pertinent to that particular risk domain. It is not an actuarial tool, and has no psychometric properties. Click here to view or download the IM-RAT assessment tool (you must have a .pdf reader, such as Adobe, to view this instrument).

Assessment of Cognitively Impaired Juvenile Sexual Offenders

We believe that the assessment of juvenile sexual offenders who have developmental and cognitive difficulties, including borderline intellectual functioning and mental retardation, as well as other forms of neurological impairments, requires a different set of eyes. Such a perspective takes into account cognitive factors that may have been present in or influenced experiences, emotions, ideas, and behavior. Accordingly, the two instruments described below are significantly modified versions of the J-RAT and IM-RAT, designed for the assessment of  cognitively challenged/impaired juveniles. However, they are also driven by larger psychosocial assessment, and the information required for the completion of the instruments is derived from that broader assessment.

(3) CI/J-RAT

The (Cognitively Impaired) Juvenile Risk Assessment Tool (CI/J-RAT) is designed and intended to be used for the initial assessment of male juvenile sexual offenders with intellectual and cognitive impairments (most typically, IQs beneath 75), assessing both static (historical) and dynamic (susceptible to change, treatment-responsive, or criminogenic) variables. As of October 2007, we are using the CI/J-RAT Version 2 (V2), and will continue to use V numbers to indicate future changes.

The (Cognitively Impaired) Juvenile Risk Assessment Tool is used to clinically assess risk for continued sexually abusive behavior (re-offending) in cognitively impaired adolescent males. Risk is assessed through the evaluation of 17 Risk Domains, each of which contains individual risk elements pertinent to that particular risk domain. It is not an actuarial tool, and has no psychometric properties. Click here to view or download the CI/J-RAT assessment tool (you must have a .pdf reader, such as Adobe, to view this instrument).

(4) IM-RAT/CI

The Interim Modified Risk Assessment Tool (Cognitively Impaired Juveniles) (IM-RAT/CI) is designed for re-evaluation over time, or as an on-going measure of assessment during treatment, and largely is a measure of dynamic factors, or responsiveness to treatment. The current version is the V2 (second) version, updated October 2007.

The Interim Modified Risk Assessment Tool (Cognitively Impaired Juveniles) (IM-RAT/CI) is a significantly modified version of the J-RAT/CI, and is used to clinically re-evaluate risk for continued sexually abusive behavior (re-offending) through the assessment of 20 Risk Domains, each of which contains individual risk elements pertinent to that particular risk domain. It is not an actuarial tool, and has no psychometric properties. Click here to view or download the IM-RAT/CI assessment tool (you must have a .pdf reader, such as Adobe, to view this instrument).

Assessment of Sexually Reactive Children

We have also developed two latency age assessment tools to evaluate both sexual reactivity and sexual assaultiveness in children 8-12, upon intake/admission and over time in treatment. Like our adolescent risk assessment tools, these are used in conjunction with and driven by a larger psychosocial assessment, and the information required for the completion of the instruments is derived from that broader assessment.

(5) LA-SAAT

The Latency Age Sexual Adjustment and Assessment Tool (LA-SAAT) is in its third version (V3, effective October, 2007) at Stetson School. It is designed for use in the initial assessment of latency age boys, aged 8-13, who have demonstrated sexually reactive behaviors, including sexually abusive behaviors. Like the J-RAT, it assesses both static and dynamic (treatment-responsive) variables, and aids the clinician in yielding a level of concern about the possibility (or risk) of continued sexually reactive non-abusive and/or sexually abusive behaviors, assessed in 19 domains.

The Latency Age Sexual Adjustment and Assessment Tool (LA-SAAT) is a used to clinically assess for the level of and risk for continued age-inappropriate sexual acting out and/or, in the case of children who have acted in a sexually aggressive manner, continued sexually abusive or aggressive behavior (re-offending). Risk is assessed through the evaluation of 19 Domains of Concern (risk domains), each of which contains individual risk elements pertinent to that particular domain. It is not an actuarial tool, and has no psychometric properties. Click here to view or download the LA-SAAT assessment tool (you must have a .pdf reader, such as Adobe, to view this instrument).

(6) LA-IRAT

The Latency Age-Interim Risk Assessment Tool (LA-IRAT) replaces the LA-IAT and is designed for re-evaluation over time. It is used to assess the level of concern (or risk) for continued sexually abusive behaviors for sexually reactive children in treatment due to prior sexually inappropriate or abusive behaviors. The LA-IRAT is used as an on-going measure of assessment during treatment, and (like the IM-RAT) is largely a measure of dynamic factors, or responsiveness to treatment. The current version is the V3 (third) version, maintaining the same V sequence as the LA-IAT.

The Latency Age-Interim Risk Assessment Tool (LA-IRAT) is a modified version of the LA-SAAT, and is used to clinically re-evaluate risk for re-offending through the assessment of 16 Domains of Concern (risk domains), each of which contains individual risk elements pertinent to that particular risk domain.  It is not an actuarial tool, and has no psychometric properties. Click here to view or download the LA-IRAT assessment tool (you must have a .pdf reader, such as Adobe, to view this instrument).