Various groups have expressed considerable concern about the potential for actuarial risk assessments to exacerbate racial disparities in justice settings. This study examined that potential when using a different approach to risk assessment, structured professional judgment (SPJ), by comparing risk decisions made by evaluators when the examinee’s race was different versus the same as theirs. A large sample of youth (N = 1,308) evaluated on the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) by 137 juvenile probation officers (JPOs) in five states indicated the only moderation effect for the match or mismatch between JPOs’ and youths’ race/ethnicity was in the weight JPOs placed on five (out of 24) risk factors in their overall risk opinions. The match between JPOs' and youths' race had no bearing on JPOs’ final determination of youths’ risk levels. This study lends support for investigating the use of SPJ instruments as a method for minimizing racial bias.

各个团体对精算风险评估可能加剧司法环境中的种族差异表示了极大的关注。这项研究通过比较评估者在种族不同与种族相同时做出的风险决策，研究了使用不同的风险评估方法，结构化专业判断（SPJ）时的潜力。五个州的137名青少年缓刑官（JPO）对青少年的暴力风险进行了结构化评估（SAVRY），对一大批年轻人（N = 1,308）进行了评估，结果表明，对于JPO和年轻人之间的匹配或不匹配，只有适度的影响种族/族裔的态度是初专干事在其总体风险意见中对五个（24个）风险因素的重视。初级专业人员和青年人之间的比赛 种族与JPO最终确定年轻人的风险水平没有关系。这项研究为调查使用SPJ仪器作为最小化种族偏见的方法提供了支持。