“Central Eight” Risk and Needs Factors

The developers of the RNR principles identified what they deem the “central eight” risk and

needs factors. These risk and needs factors include the “big four,” which they believe to be the

“major predictor variables and indeed the major causal variable in the analysis of criminal

behavior in individuals.”38 The remaining four risk and needs factors are referred to as the

“moderate four.” The “central eight” risk and needs factors.

Even though antisocial behavior is the most prominent of the “central eight” risk and needs

factors, a common mistake in risk assessment is conflating past antisocial behavior with current

antisocial behavior. The seriousness of the current offense is not a risk factor.39 A history of

antisocial behavior is what is correlated with the risk of future offending.