International Annals of Criminology (2017), 55, 60–77 doi:10.1017/cri.2017.2 ARTICLE Psychological Assessment of Adolescent Offenders: Validity of the Brazilian Jesness Inventory–Revised Rafaelle Carolynne Santos Costa, André Vilela Komatsu and Marina Rezende Bazon* University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil *Corresponding Author: Marina Rezende Bazo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, 14040-901 Ribeirão Preto – SP, Brazil. Phone: +55 16 3315 3830 and +55 16 98107 2305. E-mail: mbazon@ffclrp.usp.br (Submitted 10 January 2017; revised 10 April 2017; accepted 10 June 2017) Abstract This work presents validation of the Jesness Inventory, particularly its revised version, to the Brazilian reality. It was developed by Carl Jesness, based on his clinical experience and research programs for juvenile offenders, to assess juvenile offenders, particularly to understand the functioning of their personality, offering clues to customize psychosocial intervention, and verification of results from this, in terms of changes in adolescents’ beliefs/values and attitudes. Regarding the psychometric properties, the revised version showed an adequate internal consistency and temporal stability. For the evidence of validity, the results of the concurrent criterion and simultaneous validity were in agreement with those found in other studies, emphasizing the specific capacities of this instrument to distinguish adolescent offenders from non-offenders and properly classify them, denoting its quality in helping the diagnostic process. Research to verify predictive and construct validity is being carried out. Keywords juvenile delinquency; personality assessment; traits; adaptive patterns; beliefs and attitudes; validation studies The involvement of adolescents in offending activities is currently a prominent social problem because it has negative emotional, physical and economic effects throughout society (Bochenek and Delgado 2006; United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2004). Besides that, it is a very common phenomenon (Le Blanc 2003). Currently, in Brazil, there are about 90,000 adolescents judicialized. Therefore, it is important to know who these adolescents are in terms of psychological and social aspects, and in which way the justice system has to treat them – considering their psychosocial needs. As this phenomenon is very complex, it is necessary to choose a method to investigate this question and propose ways of dealing with it. As is known, there are three levels of analysis in criminology: the criminality/delinquency, the crime/offense and the criminal/the delinquent. Each one of these levels, according to Pinatel (1963) and Rico (1977), has its own perspectives, ways of reasoning and © 2018 International Society of Criminology.