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

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.

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 722-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M. Zgoba ◽  
Michael Miner ◽  
Jill Levenson ◽  
Raymond Knight ◽  
Elizabeth Letourneau ◽  
...  

This study was designed to compare the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) classification tiers with actuarial risk assessment instruments and existing state classification schemes in their respective abilities to identify sex offenders at high risk to re-offend. Data from 1,789 adult sex offenders released from prison in four states were collected (Minnesota, New Jersey, Florida, and South Carolina). On average, the sexual recidivism rate was approximately 5% at 5 years and 10% at 10 years. AWA Tier 2 offenders had higher Static-99R scores and higher recidivism rates than Tier 3 offenders, and in Florida, these inverse correlations were statistically significant. Actuarial measures and existing state tier systems, in contrast, did a better job of identifying high-risk offenders and recidivists. As well, we examined the distribution of risk assessment scores within and across tier categories, finding that a majority of sex offenders fall into AWA Tier 3, but more than half score low or moderately low on the Static-99R. The results indicate that the AWA sex offender classification scheme is a poor indicator of relative risk and is likely to result in a system that is less effective in protecting the public than those currently implemented in the states studied.


2012 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Broadley

When a convicted or alleged child sex offender is living, or having contact, with his own children or stepchildren, the obvious worry is that these children are victims or will become victims of sexual abuse. One way of determining the risk of this occurring is for the convicted or alleged offender to undergo a forensic sex offender risk assessment. In this article I raise questions regarding the usefulness of sex offender risk assessments within the statutory child protection context. Most importantly, I ask whether static and dynamic risk assessment instruments can accurately predict the risk an alleged or convicted sex offender poses to his own children. I conclude that ‘high’, ‘moderate’, and ‘low’ risk outcomes of forensic sex offender risk assessments in the child protection context are unreliable and can result in error, and explain that these errors have consequences that, within the child protection context, have consequences that can be dangerous to children.


1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn E. Ferguson ◽  
Roy J. Eidelson ◽  
Philip H. Witt

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.


Author(s):  
Inge Hempel ◽  
Nicole Buck ◽  
Maaike Cima ◽  
Hjalmar van Marle

Risk assessment is considered to be a key element in the prevention of recidivism among juvenile sex offenders (JSOs), often by imposing long-term consequences based on that assessment. The authors reviewed the literature on the predictive accuracy of six well-known risk assessment instruments used to appraise risk among JSOs: the Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II (J-SOAP-II), Juvenile Sexual Offence Recidivism Risk Assessment Tool-II (J-SORRAT-II), Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offence Recidivism (ERASOR), Juvenile Risk Assessment Scale (JRAS), Structured Assessment of Violent Risk in Youth (SAVRY), and Hare Psychopathy Checklist:Youth Version (PCL:YV). Through a systematic search, 19 studies were reviewed. Studies showed differences in the predictive accuracies for general, violent, and sexual recidivism, and none of the instruments showed unequivocal positive results in predicting future offending. Not unexpectedly, the accuracy of the SAVRY and PCL:YV appeared to be weaker for sexual recidivism compared with specialized tools such as the J-SOAP-II or the ERASOR. Because of the rapid development of juveniles, it is questionable to impose long-term restrictions based on a risk assessment only. New challenges in improving risk assessment are discussed.


2003 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred L. Brophy

Norms based on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) normative sample are provided for the L + K and L + K – F indexes of underreporting and defensiveness. Index scores produced by consistently desirable responding, which was guided by desirability eatings of the MMPI-2 items, also are provided and compared with scores produced by underreporting in other studies. The indexes correlate highly with other measures of underreporting in both normative and clinical samples. The L and K scales assess different types of underreporting and should be interpreted separately as well as in combination. The L scale can be elevated by undesirable responding or random responding in addition to desirable responding.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
pp. 1236-1241
Author(s):  
Christopher Lobanov-Rostovsky

The work of the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) has been called into question as a result of the manuscript “The Influence of Risk Assessment Instrument Scores on the Evaluators’ Risk Opinions and Sexual Offender Containment Recommendations” published in Criminal Justice and Behavior (2017). This response covers the following areas: significant nomenclature problems used to describe the Adult Standards and Guidelines, the dated nature of the SOMB citations in the manuscript, the flaws in the interpretation of the use of the 17 SOMB risk factors and the SOMB policy related to risk assessment, a potential confounding variable that may explain the results obtained, and finally the work of the SOMB to foster the use of validated risk assessment instruments and evidence-based policies and practices. The SOMB takes pride in providing up-to-date, research-supported practices for its providers and would never intentionally do otherwise, as suggested by the article.


2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dany Lacombe

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.


Sexual Abuse ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark V. A. Howard ◽  
Abilio C. de Almeida Neto ◽  
Jennifer J. Galouzis

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.


Sexual Abuse ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 930-951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Gallo ◽  
Jeffrey Abracen ◽  
Jan Looman ◽  
Elizabeth Jeglic ◽  
Robert Dickey

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.


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