ABSTRACT
The LS instruments originated with the LSI-R in the mid-1990s and have grown to a suite of instruments suited to a variety of correctional agency requirements. Today it is used in community corrections, prisons, paroling authorities, forensic clinics, and halfway houses. There are two important uses of the LS assessment tools. First, they are used to assess the offender’s risk to reoffend and consequently assign the appropriate level of supervision and control. Second, by identifying the criminogenic needs of the offender treatment, targets are formulated and, in the case of the LS/CMI, a case management and monitoring plan can be implemented. An important feature of the LS instruments is its close ties to a general personality and cognitive social learning theory and the Risk-Need-Responsivity model of offender assessment and treatment. This chapter summarizes the development of the LS instruments, the empirical research, and their applications.
