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The open-ended interview has been the mainstay in most traditional psychological evaluations for many years, despite its paradoxical lack of demonstrated reliability and validity. The interview has not been a good predictive procedure, and it is notoriously time consuming. Many contemporary mental health professionals believe that the interview by itself is not a defensible technique for making diagnostic decisions, selecting treatment programs or predicting recidivism.

Many interviews do not have the word "interview" in their titles, which contributes to the mistaken belief that some interviews are tests. Examples of such interviews are numerous and include the Mosaic 20, SARA, Addiction Severity Index (ASI), Alcohol Use Inventory (AUI), SUDDS, ASUDDS, Lethality Checklist, etc. These interviews are not listed in the Mental Measurements Yearbook because they are not tests.

Recently, there have been attempts to give interviews some credibility by calling them "semi-structured interviews." Yet, interviewers must repeat, paraphrase and probe for acceptable answers. This means that all interviews, including semi-structured interviews, have serious inter-interviewer reliability problems.

Another attempt to gain interview credibility involves training the interviewers. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of interviewers have not been trained to use specific interviews. And, of those who applied for interview training with the ASI, ten percent (10%) of the applicants were turned away or denied training because of their personalities (ASI Webpage, 2002). This raises serious questions about the many untrained interviewers. Although admittedly subjective, some interviewers call their interviews "semi-structured." And, how about all the other interviewers in the assessment field?

The interview process, however, has been used successfully to augment objective test findings and provides in-depth understanding of objectively identified problems and related concerns. Risk & Needs Assessment, Inc.'s (Risk & Needs') tests provide accurate information for "focused interviews." Problems (and their severity) are identified by self-report tests so that the evaluator can "focus" or "zero in" on identified problems. In contrast to the open-ended interview, the focused interview is much shorter – with no compromises in effectiveness.

Specific problem identification with screening and assessment tests can cut the waste associated with over-evaluation by up to 80 or 90 percent, and this is where huge amounts of staff time (and related dollars) can be saved. Combining screening or assessment tests with a focused interview can help identify problems and their severity, establish appropriate levels of intervention/treatment and, in many cases, accurately predict recidivism.

Some assessors desire more background information than others. To help meet these needs, without over-extending a test's length, Risk & Needs has developed a juvenile structured interview called the Juvenile Violence Interview (JVI) and an "adult structured interview" called the Automated Criminogenic Structured Interview (ACSI). Each of these structured interviews is designed to augment Risk & Needs test findings.

The Juvenile Violence Interview (JVI) is a self-report interview. It is not a test. The Juvenile Violence Interview (JVI) obtains background information that relates to violence (lethality). Use of the Juvenile Violence Interview (JVI) is limited to users of Risk & Needs juvenile tests. The Juvenile Violence Interview (JVI) is free. It can augment, but not replace, a Risk & Needs juvenile test. The JVI contains 60 multiple choice items and can be completed in 20 minutes. JVI reports are computer-generated and printed on-site within 2 minutes. This is the Juvenile Violence Interview (JVI) webpage.

The Automated Criminogenic Structured Inter-view (ACSI) is a self-report interview; it is not a test. The Automated Criminogenic Structured Interview (ACSI) is provided free to Risk & Needs adult test users. The Automated Criminogenic Structured Interview (ACSI) obtains background and criminogenic needs information, such as employment, education, priors, attitude, relationships and available support groups. Use of the Automated Criminogenic Structured Interview (ACSI) is free, optional and limited to Risk & Needs adult test users. The ACSI consists of 65 multiple choice items and takes 20 minutes to complete. ACSI reports are computer-generated and printed on-site within 2 minutes.

Interested parties can go directly to the ACSI webpage by clicking on the Automated Criminogenic Structured Interview link. The ACSI is also listed on the alphabetical listing of tests webpage.

Use of these two structured interviews (JVI and ACSI) is optional (not required), and they are only available to current users of Risk & Needs juvenile and/or adult tests. Additional information can be provided upon request by calling (602) 234-3506, faxing (602) 266-8227 or e-mailing hhl@riskandneeds.com.

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