Subverting and Negotiating Risk Assessment: A Case Study of the LSI in a Canadian Youth Custody Facility

Abstract

This case study examines probation officers and local agents' strategies and approaches to completing and applying the Level of Supervision Inventory (LSI) to female young offenders at Youth House, an open-custody facility in central Canada. Both the probation officers and Youth House staff express concerns about the LSI and employ strategies to subvert its almost deterministic impact through discretionary practices. I show that the LSI's risk calculations are subverted by both Youth House staff and, to a lesser extent, the probation officers, thereby reducing the LSI's importance in the management of offenders. Lastly, I find that probation officers utilize the LSI to externalize responsibility. This tool provides them with a means by which to justify and rationalize their management decisions. This study supports not only the growing body of literature that examines risk in practice but also contributes to increasing knowledge on how risk rationales on the macro-level translate to practices at the local level.