Sexual offending: Linking assessment, intervention, and decision making.

Abstract

The recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Kansas v. Hendricks (1997) will focus increased attention on the legal, social science, and clinical issues related to sexual offenders. Such issues include the risk of recidivism by sexual offenders, the extent to which this risk is reduced through treatment, and the degree to which assessment and treatment of sexual offenders can be informed by social science data and is relevant for legal decision making. The authors critically review the research on sexual offender recidivism and the impact of treatment on such recidivism, and analyze the legal decision-making contexts that characterize the decisions facing courts concerning sexual offenders. The authors then describe a clinical decisionmaking model with the potential for linking assessment with interventions for sexual offenders, in a way that can facilitate relevance and accuracy in decision making for both clinicians and courts.

A dynamic assessment of offender risk, needs, and strengths in a sample of pre‐release general offenders

“…Although the assessment of risk for recidivism is an important purpose of risk assessments, these evaluations also have utility for the ongoing treatment and supervision of offenders (Harris & Rice, 1997;Heilbrun, Nezu, Keeney, Chung, & Wasserman, 1997;Moran, Sweda, Fragala, & Sasscer-Burgos, 2001). Therefore, it is proposed that the purpose of risk assessment may really be threefold: (1) to examine risk of recidivism, (2) to identify those risk factors that can be successfully treated and monitored to reduce the likelihood for re-offense, and (3) to identify those risk factors for supervision and management purposes within the criminal justice system.…”

Sexual Deviation: Paraphilias

“…Contrary to popular belief, not all sex offenders relapse. A recent review suggests that sex offender recidivism rates are near 55%, which is comparable to recidivism rates for nonsexual criminals (Heilbrun, Nezu, Keeney, Chung, & Wasserman, 1998). Hall (1995) concluded that pharmacological and cognitive behavioral treatments produced a 30% decrease in recidivism.…”

“…Accountability and supervision are common components of relapse prevention. Although cognitive behavioral treatments reduce recidivism rates among sex offenders (Hall, 1995;Heilbrun et al, 1998), the exact mechanism by which they achieve such change remains unclear. Their efficacy seems to involve more than a simple conditioning process, and therefore, a selfcontrol model may be more accurate in explaining the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral and pharmacological interventions for paraphilias.…”

Victoria's Serious Sex Offenders Monitoring Act 2005: Implications for the Accuracy of Sex Offender Risk Assessment

“…Risk assessment should not be considered a fixed determination, but rather an adjustable equation requiring continual revision to manage the risk of such offenders . The increasing evidence for dynamic and static risk variables has led to the argument by some for a distinction between the role of violence risk prediction, versus risk management (Heilbrun et al, 1998). The primary goal for a prediction model is to attempt to accurately determine the probability of a specific event occurring within a given time period, similar to that expected by the new sex offence legislation.…”

“…According to scientific literature, there is evidence that some risk factors predicting sexual recidivism are distinct from factors predicting other forms of violence (Hanson & Bussiere, 1998). However, there is also empirical basis for the fact that sex offenders as a class are not at elevated risk for criminal recidivism when compared to other criminal and violent offenders (see Heilbrun, Nezu, Keeney, Chung, & Wasserman, 1998). For example, in a study of 4673 sexual offenders from 10 different population samples, a full 73% of sex offenders had not been reconvicted of another sexual offence after 15 years (Harris & Hanson, 2004).…”