Where Should We Intervene?

Abstract

Effective intervention with sexual offenders requires the targeting of appropriate risk factors. In this study, information on dynamic (changeable) risk factors was collected through interviews with community supervision officers and file reviews of 208 sexual offense recidivists and 201 nonrecidivists. The recidivists were generally considered to have poor social supports, attitudes tolerant of sexual assault, antisocial lifestyles, poor self-management strategies, and difficulties cooperating with supervision. The overall mood of the recidivists and nonrecidivists was similar, but the recidivists showed increased anger and subjective distress just before reoffending. The dynamic risk factors reported by the officers continued to be strongly associated with recidivism, even after controlling for preexisting differences in static risk factors. The factors identified in the interview data were reflected (to a lesser extent) in the officers' contemporaneous case notes, which suggests that the interview findings cannot be completely attributed to retrospective recall bias.

Psychopathy and the combination of psychopathy and sexual deviance as predictors of sexual recidivism: Meta-analytic findings using the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised.

“…The mean effect across all six field score studies was d = 0 Sexual recidivism base rate. The base rate of sexual recidivism ranged fi-om .03 (Murrie et al, 2012) to .54 (Hanson & Harris, 2000). Overall, the ability of PCL-R Total scores to predict sexual recidivism increased as the base rate increased {b = 1.07, SE = .42, ß = .52, p < .001).…”

“…We considered findings from the same general patient or offender sample to be a single study, even when findings were published across multiple articles (e.g., Firestone et al, 2000;Greenberg, Firestone, Bradford, & Greenberg, 2002;Kingston, Firestone, Wexler, & Bradford, 2008;Wexler, 2007). In some instances, we obtained PCL-R Total and factor score effects for the same study from different research reports (e.g., Hanson & Harris, 2000;A. J. Harris, 2003).…”

The conceptualization of dynamic risk factors in child sex offenders: An agency model

“…Empirical and theoretical research supports the conclusion that there are at least four major domains of risk (and their various components) that a causal model of sexual offending ought to accommodate: cognition, self-regulation, interpersonal functioning, and sexual (Hanson & Harris, 2000;Mann et al, 2010;Thornton, 2013) (see Table 1). These risk factors are much like observable symptoms of psychological disorders.…”

“…Dynamic risk factors have been further divided into stable and acute subtypes, based on their persistence over time (Hanson & Harris, 2000). Stable factors persist across weeks or months (e.g., antisocial attitudes), while acute factors increase the imminent risk of offending (e.g., intense emotional states).…”

The Spanish version of the Criminal Sentiment Scale Modified (CSS-M): Factor structure, reliability, and validity

“…Andrews (1980) showed changes in criminal attitudes of offenders in contact with volunteers during an 8-week treatment whilst in the community and within a prison institution (Andrews, Young, Wormith, Searle, & Kouri, 1973). The reduction in recidivism is much higher in programmes that are concerned with criminogenic needs than in those focusing on non-criminogenic needs (Hanson & Harris, 2000). This is the fundamental reason why criminal attitudes have to be at the core of the treatment programmes in prison or in the community.…”