ABSTRACT
This chapter describes screening and assessment practices for at-risk children in the Netherlands. Selection of specific predictors in screening instruments should be based on theory as well as empirical information. Since the causes of disruptive and delinquent behaviours are multifaceted phenomena, a wide variety of factors are involved and should be covered in screening and assessment. Regardless of the method used to evaluate the findings, different strategies can be used to select the appropriate risk group of children, ranging from using a single screening instrument at a single point in time to step-wise screening over a period of time. The main ethical aspect to consider when screening at-risk children is the possible negative impact of prophecy labelling a child as deviant, which may negatively affect their interaction with the child's behaviour, and in a self-fulfilling prophecy generate deviant child behaviours.
