New Jersey's Sex Offender Risk Assessment Scale: Preliminary Validity Data

1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn E. Ferguson ◽  
Roy J. Eidelson ◽  
Philip H. Witt
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
New Jersey ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Assessment Scale ◽  
Treatment Center ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Community Notification ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Validity Data

The Registrant Risk Assessment Scale (RRAS) was developed to aid New Jersey law enforcement representatives in assigning convicted sex offenders to risk tier classifications. The three risk tier classifications (low, moderate, and high risk) are linked to corresponding levels of community notification. The present study examined the scores of 574 adult males convicted of sex offenses in New Jersey on the seven RRAS items that assess static indicators of recidivism risk. Based on sentencing decisions, the sample included three groups of offenders: probationers, state prisoners, and those assigned to the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center (ADTC), an inpatient sex offender treatment facility for repetitive and compulsive offenders. An exploratory factor analysis of the RRAS items identified two important orthogonal factors: a forcible assault factor and a sexual deviance factor. One-way ANOVAs revealed significant differences among the three placement groups, with state prisoners tending to score highest on items reflecting antisocial orientation and forcible sexual assault and ADTC offenders scoring highest on items reflecting deviant sexual behavior. A discriminant analysis generated two distinct functions that classified well over half of the sample into their correct sentencing groups. Taken as a whole, the results provide preliminary support for the use of the RRAS in making sex offender risk determinations.

Evaluation of New Jersey's Sex Offender Treatment Program at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center: Preliminary Results

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M. Zgoba ◽  
Wayne R. Sager ◽  
Philip H. Witt
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Correctional Facility ◽  
Treatment Center ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Sexual Offense ◽  
Sex Offender Treatment ◽  
Sexual Offenses

This study examined 10-year sexual and non-sexual offense recidivism for sex offenders released from New Jersey's general prison system and from the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center (ADTC), New Jersey's correctional facility and treatment center for repetitive-compulsive sexual offenders. The study found that sexual offenders released from the ADTC had significantly lower rates of committing both non-sexual offenses and any offense, compared with the general prison population of sex offenders. For both groups, the 10-year sexual offense reconviction rates were relatively low, 8.6% for the ADTC offenders and 12.7% for the general prison sexual offenders, while reoffense rates for non-sexual offenses were 25.8% and 44.1% for ADTC and general prison sex offenders, respectively.

Victims’ Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders and Sex Offender Legislation

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (11) ◽  
pp. 3385-3407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Spoo ◽  
Leah E. Kaylor ◽  
Sarah Schaaf ◽  
Michelle Rosselli ◽  
Anniken Laake ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Community Notification ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Treatment Support ◽  
Victims Of Sexual Abuse ◽  
Attitudes Toward Sex

It is commonly assumed that victims of sexual abuse feel more negatively toward sex offenders and advocate for harsher punishments than individuals who have not been victimized. This belief was examined by comparing attitudes toward sex offenders and their treatment, support of registration, notification, and residence restriction policies, as well as general knowledge about sex offenders between a sample of 129 individuals who reported sexual victimization and a sample of 841 individuals who did not report sexual victimization. Overall, we found that victims of sexual abuse reported more positive attitudes toward sex offenders and were more supportive of mandated treatment compared with nonvictims. However, while victims showed decreased support for the community notification laws, there were no differences in support of residence restrictions laws compared with those who reported no victimization. Finally, knowledge about sex offenders predicted attitudes regardless of victim status. These findings are discussed as they pertain to sex offender treatment and legislation.

Assessment of Sex Offenders With the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality /Inventory–2–Restructured Form

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony M. Tarescavage ◽  
Bruce M. Cappo ◽  
Yossef S. Ben-Porath
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory ◽  
Personality Inventory ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Normative Sample ◽  
Scale Scores ◽  
Dynamic Risk Assessment

This study examined the association between scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2–Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) with static and dynamic risk assessment instruments, including the STATIC-99 and Level of Service Inventory–Revised (LSI-R). The sample included 304 male adults who were convicted of sexual offenses against children and were referred to a sex offender treatment program. On average, the sample had a Low-Moderate risk of re-offending according to the STATIC-99 and LSI-R. The results indicated that MMPI-2-RF scale scores in this setting are characterized by relatively high levels of under-reporting and externalizing psychopathology compared with the normative sample. We also found that scale scores in this sample produced reliability estimates that were similar to the normative sample. Finally, external correlations between the MMPI-2-RF scales and the risk assessment instruments indicated that the test was associated in expected ways with constructs measured by these instruments. Correlations were most robust among scales in the externalizing/behavioral dysfunction domain of the MMPI-2-RF. Overall, the results of the study support and guide use of the test in this population.

scholarly journals The War on Sex Offenders: Community Notification in Perspective

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Hinds ◽  
Kathleen Daly
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Notification ◽  
Megan's Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Campaign ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Naming And Shaming

This article explores the contemporary phenomenon of “naming and shaming” sex offenders. Community notification laws, popularly known as Megan's Law, which authorise the public disclosure of the identity of convicted sex offenders to the community in which they live, were enacted throughout the United States in the 1990s. A public campaign to introduce “Sarah's Law” has recently been launched in Britain, following the death of eight-year old Sarah Payne. Why are sex offenders, and certain categories of sex offenders, singled out as targets of community notification laws? What explains historical variability in the form that sex offender laws take? We address these questions by reviewing the sexual psychopath laws enacted in the United States in the 1930s and 40s and the sexual predator and community notification laws of the 1990s, comparing recent developments in the United States with those in Britain, Canada, and Australia. We consider arguments by Garland, O'Malley, Pratt, and others on how community notification, and the control of sex offenders more generally, can be explained; and we speculate on the likelihood that Australia will adopt community notification laws.

scholarly journals The Predictive Accuracy of the Violent Offender Treatment Program Risk Assessment Scale

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANN WARD ◽  
JOHN DOCKERILL
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Treatment Program ◽  
Predictive Accuracy ◽  
Violent Behavior ◽  
Violent Offenders ◽  
Assessment Scale ◽  
Violent Offender ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Cutoff Score

Current methods for screening violent offenders for program eligibility are expensive and time consuming. Developers of the Violent Offender Treatment Program (VOTP) have designed a brief and economical instrument to screen offenders for program eligibility. The present study was undertaken to assess the reliability and predictive accuracy of the VOTP Risk Assessment Scale (RAS). An interrater reliability of 20 court histories attained a mean kappa of .81. The RAS was applied to court histories of 202 violent offenders released between 1985 and 1987. A 10-year follow-up of convictions for violent behavior yielded a 47% base rate. Receiver Operating Characteristic curves showed that for varying time-at-risk periods, the predictive accuracy remained between .72 and .76. The recommended cutoff score for all time-at-risk periods was 11. The relatively high accuracy rate of the VOTP RAS indicated that it was accurate enough to aid program eligibility decisions.

scholarly journals “Mr S, you do have sexual fantasies?” The Parole Hearing and Treatment of a Sex Offender at the Turn of the 21st Century

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dany Lacombe
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Treatment Program ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Sex Offender Treatment ◽  
Sexual Fantasies ◽  
Parole Board ◽  
Clear Sign ◽  
Prevention Plan

How does the Parole Board decide a sex offender is rehabilitated and can be released into the community? This case study of a parole hearing reveals the significance the Parole Board gives to a sex offender’s management of his arousal as a clear sign of his rehabilitation. To explain the Board’s preoccupation with a sex offender’s sexual fantasies and arousal, I draw on a prison ethnography of a sex offender treatment program. Rehabilitation as risk management relies on the development of a crime cycle and relapse prevention plan designed to grasp the connection between fantasies, arousal and offending. I argue the parole hearing and treatment program exist in a symbiotic relationship that fabricates the sex offender into a species larger than life, one at risk of offending all the time. Key words: rehabilitation, sex offenders, parole, sexual fantasies, ethnography, prison.

Relationships Between Treatment Delivery, Program Attrition, and Reoffending Outcomes in an Intensive Custodial Sex Offender Program

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark V. A. Howard ◽  
Abilio C. de Almeida Neto ◽  
Jennifer J. Galouzis
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Treatment Effectiveness ◽  
Potential Interaction ◽  
Program Completion ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Therapist Characteristics ◽  
Treatment Delivery ◽  
Program Adherence ◽  
Program Attrition

Retention of sex offenders to the completion of treatment is critical to program adherence to risk need responsivity (RNR) principles; however, it is also important to consider the potential interaction between attrition and treatment outcomes such as reoffending. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of changes to treatment delivery in a residential sex offender treatment program (SOTP), including introduction of rolling groups and systematic emphasis on positive therapist characteristics, on likelihood of program noncompletion ( n = 652). Pooled regression modeling indicated that these operational interventions were associated with a significantly increased likelihood of program completion. We also examined whether variance in rates of participant attrition was related to reoffending outcomes for program completers ( n = 494). Incidence of attrition within completing participants’ treatment cohorts had a significant negative association with hazard of sexual reoffending that was not accounted for by pretreatment risk. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for treatment delivery processes that aim to optimize both participant retention and treatment effectiveness.

The Use of Leuprolide Acetate in the Management of High-Risk Sex Offenders

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 930-951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Gallo ◽  
Jeffrey Abracen ◽  
Jan Looman ◽  
Elizabeth Jeglic ◽  
Robert Dickey
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Dependent Measure ◽  
Leuprolide Acetate ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Term Outcome ◽  
Long Term Outcome

The present study investigates whether leuprolide acetate (Lupron) adds to the efficacy of traditional sex offender treatment. A group of sex offenders receiving both Lupron and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT; n = 25) were compared with a group of sex offenders receiving only CBT ( n = 22). Treated subjects were compared with norms available with reference to the Static-99R, as well as compared with a sample of untreated, nonsexual violent offenders ( n = 81), to provide baseline data regarding risk of violent recidivism. Results indicated that subjects receiving Lupron were at significantly higher risk of recidivism and significantly more likely to be diagnosed with a paraphilia than subjects receiving only CBT, a priori. Both treated groups of sexual offenders recidivated at substantially lower rates than predicted by the Static-99R. Currently, this study represents the only, long-term outcome study on Lupron administration using officially recorded recidivism as the primary dependent measure.

Prison-based sex offender treatment programs in the post sexual psychopath era

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia M. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Behavioral Treatment ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Offender Treatment ◽  
Sex Offender Treatment ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Treatment Methods ◽  
State Prisons ◽  
New Generation

Throughout the 1980s sex offender treatment programs proliferated in state prisons in the wake of repealed sexual psychopath legislation, driven by much favorable publicity over novel cognitive and behavioral treatment methods. This article examines the scope and likely impact of the new generation of sex offender treatment programs and concludes that heightened optimism may be premature. The new programs embody the same defects that the repeal of psychopath legislation was intended to correct. The enterprise of sex offender treatment would benefit from participation of social scientists outside of the treatment field in research on sex offenders.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document