Assessment of Sex Offenders

1. Assessment of Sex Offenders

2. Learning Objectives • Identify information and assessments that reliably estimate risk posed by sex offenders; • Describe some of the areas of uncertainty in risk assessment of sex offenders; and • Describe expected qualifications of professionals who conduct specialized, sex offender-specific assessments.

3. Types of Assessments That Can Inform Decision-Making Static and Dynamic Risk Factors Commonly Accepted Sex Offender-Specific Risk Assessment Tools What to Expect in Assessments and From the Professionals Completing Them Overview

4. Common Questions Courts Face in Cases Involving Sex Crimes • Is this defendant truly a “sex offender”? • What type of sentence is warranted? • How can justice and public safety concerns be reconciled in this case? • Will this individual re-offend?

5. Questions Addressed through Post-Conviction Assessments • What level of relative risk does this individual pose? • What factors indicate that this person is a greater (or lesser) risk to recidivate? • Which strategies may be effective for this individual? • Is this person likely to be amenable to strategies the court may utilize to positively affect risk reduction/management?

6. Types of Assessments that Can Inform Decision-Making

7. Key Assessments • Risk assessments • General and sex offender-specific • Pre-sentence investigations • Psychosexual evaluations

8. Important Assessment Considerations • Objectives • Timing • Method, approach • Evaluator expertise • Information access and sharing

9. Sources of Information for Assessments • Offender interviews • Collateral interviews • Official records • General psychological measures • Sex offender-specific measures • Empirically supported risk assessment tools

10. Identifying Higher vs. Lower Risk Offenders • Professional judgment • Research-supported risk assessment tools • General offenders • Sex offenders

11. Predictive Accuracy of Risk Assessment Strategies with Sex Offenders Greater Accuracy 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 .70 .42 0.2 LessAccuracy 0.0 Empirical Actuarial Professional Judgment (Andrews & Bonta, 2007; Grove, et al., 2000; Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2007)

12. Static and Dynamic Risk Factors

13. Two Categories of Risk Factors • Static: generally unchangeable • Dynamic: variable over time

14. Examples of Static Risk Factors for Sex Offenders

15. Examples of Dynamic Risk Factors for Sex Offenders

17. Variables Not Linked to Sex Offenders’ Recidivism • Maltreatment history • Emotional/psychological difficulties • Poor clinical presentation (Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2005)

18. Key Risk Factors in Case Studies

19. Static vs. Dynamic Risk Factors • Previous conviction for sex offense • Desert Storm veteran • Methamphetamine user • Incest-only offense • Clinically depressed offender • Victim needs therapy for PTSD

20. Commonly Accepted Sex Offender-Specific Risk Assessment Tools

21. Risk Assessment Tools • Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool -Revised (MnSOST-R) • Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offense Recidivism (RRASOR) • Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG)

22. Risk Assessment Tools (cont.) • STABLE- and ACUTE-2007 • STATIC-99, STATIC-2002 • Vermont Assessment of Sex Offender Risk (VASOR) • SVR-20

23. Sample Assessment: Static-99 • Age (25 is cut-off) • Relationship > 2 years • Non-sexual violence with index event • Any prior non-sexual violence • Prior sex offense convictions (1, 2-3, 4+) • Prior sentencing dates • Non-contact convictions 8.-10. Unrelated, stranger, or male victims

24. Sexual Reconviction by Static-99 Score (%): Group Estimates 5 Years 10 Years 15 Years

25. Stan • Age: 22 • No stable relationships • No sexual violence with offense • No prior non-sexual violence • No prior sex convictions • Prior sentencing dates: (less than four) • Two non-sexual assault convictions 8.-10. Known, but unrelated, male victim

26. Additional Tools • Polygraph • Viewing Time Measures (e.g., Abel Assessment for Sexual Interest (AASI-2)) • Plethysmography

27. Polygraph

28. Polygraphs: Compare AdmissionsMedium Number of Victims/Offenses Reported Similarly, the reported age of the first offense dropped from 28 to 12 from PSIs to polygraphs. • (Ahlmeyer, et al., 2000)

29. Polygraph: Compare Victim Reports Type of CrossoverCourtPolygraph Adult & Child Victims 7% 70% Male & Female Victims 9% 36% 223 Sex Offenders Participating in SOTMP TC at the Colorado Department of Corrections (Heil, Ahlmeyer, Simons, 2003)

30. Plethysmography • Instrument to assess sexual arousal • Arousal does not mean offender • Ability to manage arousal may decrease recidivism risk

31. Abel Assessment for Sexual Interest TM • Assesses sexual interests via relative time spent viewing different visual stimuli • Some research: can discriminate between offenders and non-offenders • Undermined by websites that disclose the basis of the test

32. Commonly Accepted General Risk Assessment Tools • Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) • Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG) • Statistical Information on Recidivism (SIR) • Wisconsin Risk and Needs • Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS) • Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R)

33. Pre-Sentence Investigations • Index offense • Prior criminal history • Social supports • Health, mental health • Employment, financial, residential stability

34. Pre-Sentence Investigations (cont.) • Victim impact • Aggravating, mitigating circumstances • Findings from psychosexual evaluations • Recommended criminal justice interventions

35. Commonalities Between General Psychological and Sex Offender-Specific Evaluations • Intellectual, cognitive functioning • Personality, psychopathology, diagnosis • Interpersonal, social history • Developmental, family history • Risk of harm to self, others

36. What to Expect in Assessments and From the Professionals Conducting Them

37. Expanded Content Important for Psychosexual Evaluations • Sexual development, attitudes, behaviors, adjustment • Sexual interests, arousal, preferences • Sexual, violent recidivism risk

38. . • PSYCHOSEXUAL EVALUATION • Identifying information • Referral source and question • Informed consent • Records review • List of assessment tools and strategies used (including offender interview) • Background information, psychosocial history, employment • Criminal history, responses to interventions • Sexual history • Interpretations of assessment data, case formulation (including diagnosis, summary of intervention needs) • Recommendations

39. Assessing Evaluators’ Expertise • Relevant advanced degree • Forensic training, experience • Specialized training, clinical supervision • Licensure, professional affiliations • Continuing education

40. Summary • Assessments are essential for understanding sex offenders on a case-by-case basis. • Research reveals specific factors linked to recidivism risk for sex offenders. • Specialized, research-supported assessment tools increase accuracy of estimating risk.

41. Summary (cont.) • Psychosexual evaluations provide added value over general psychological evaluations. • Thorough, complementary assessments by quality evaluators can inform sentencing decisions.