Latent Constructs of the Static-99R and Static-2002R

Abstract

The most commonly used risk assessment tools for predicting sexual violence focus almost exclusively on static, historical factors (e.g., characteristics of prior offences). Consequently, they are assumed to be unable to directly inform the selection of treatment targets or evaluate change. In this article, we argue that this limitation can be mitigated by using latent variable models as a framework to link historical risk factors to the psychological characteristics of offenders. Accordingly, we conducted a factor analysis of the 13 nonredundant items from the two most commonly used risk tools for sexual offenders (Static-99R and Static-2002R) to identify the psychological information contained in these tools. Three factors were identified: (a) persistence/paraphilia, a construct related to sexual criminality, especially of the pedophilic type; (b) youthful stranger aggression, a construct centered on young age and offence seriousness; and (c) general criminality, a construct that reflected the diversity and magnitude of criminal careers. These constructs predicted sexual recidivism with similar accuracy, but only youthful stranger aggression and general criminality predicted nonsexual recidivism. These results indicate that risk tools for sexual violence are multidimensional, and support a shift from a focus on atheoretical risk markers to the assessment of psychologically meaningful constructs.

A Meta-Analysis of Viewing Time Measures of Sexual Interest in Children

“…Of note, associations with risk levels can only be regarded as an indirect proof of construct validity for sexual interest in children as recidivism risk is only partially driven by pedophilic sexual interest (e.g., Brouillete-Alarie, Babchishin, Hanson, & Helmus, 2016;Mann et al, 2010). Finally, for applied forensic purposes it remains an important open empirical question at the present stage whether VT measures are amenable to faking attempts once the measurement rationale is known to the respondents or when processnaïve individuals try their subjective best to manipulate the assessment outcome.…”

Paraphilias

“…As Brouillette-Alarie et al [37] point out, clinicians in many countries now routinely use risk tools to assess a sex offender's risk of recidivism. The most popular scales consist of historical items that cannot be modified by treatment or intervention.…”

“…The most popular scales consist of historical items that cannot be modified by treatment or intervention. Analyzing common risk assessment tools reveals that the construct of persistent paraphilia was related to sexual criminality, especially of the paedophilic type [37].…”

Effect of treatment on sex offenders’ recidivism: a meta-analysis.

“…The high rates of general recidivism observed (49.31%) might be due to the importance of the combination of the antisocial characteristics of these individuals with sexual deviation, as precursors to sexual offending. Sexual deviation has been found to predict exclusively sexual recidivism, while antisocial characteristics have been found to predict all types of recidivism (e.g., Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2005;Brouillette-Alarie, Babchishin, Hanson, & Helmus, 2016). Therefore, if therapists aim to reduce the risk of non-sexual recidivism, they should anales de psicología, 2017, vol.…”