The Women’s Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA) is a comprehensive gender-responsive risk, needs and strengths assessment designed specifically to be used with criminal justice involved women. Developed by Professor Van Voorhis and colleagues at the University of Cincinnati, the WRNA was first used in 1999 and has been subsequently been re-validated in 2002, 2008 and 2013. It is currently used in Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Thailand, Singapore and Kenya, plus 22 jurisdictions in the USA in prisons, probation and community services. The current project will validate the Probation Module (version 7) of the WRNA for the first time in England.
Principal investigator
Dr Simon Pemberton
Project summary
The study aims to test whether the WRNA works as effectively in England as it does in the US, in terms of predicting the risk of re-offending according to the needs/strengths contained in the WRNA scales. Adaptions can then be made to the existing WRNA to ensure that its scales and scoring are appropriately weighted to the characteristics of this specific population group.
Women who are involved in, or at risk of, the criminal justice system, entering Women’s Centres will be invited to participate in the validation study, from the following pathways:
- Prison, with a caseworker and through-the-gate support (TTG);
- Liaison and Diversion (L&D) from Police custody, street triage or Mental Health Trusts;
- Probation referrals received by the Women’s Centres
Dara will be collected in three Women’s Organisations: Anawim (Birmingham); The Nelson Trust (Gloucestershire); and Together Women (Leeds). In an initial caseworker interview, participants undertake the WRNA assessment that identifies the individual’s needs and strengths that predict the risk of offending. This initial assessment will be updated at regular points, and then completed with a final interview within 6 months of the baseline being taken. A further 6 months on, criminal conviction data will be sought from the Ministry of Justice Datalab, which will link the risk scores to the actual recidivism outcomes for that individual, as a means to assess the predictive accuracy of the WRNA.
Publications
Women’s Risk Needs Assessment Tool Probation module v7 Technical Report: Cognitive Interview Findings (PDF)
Trauma, Harm and Offending Behaviour: What works to address social injury and criminogenic need with criminal justice involved women? (PDF)
Further information
Find out more at the study protocol webite.