NCJ Number
195595
Journal
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2002 Pages: 253-269
Date Published
July 2002
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examined and compared the predictive validity of two risk-assessment instruments for sex offenders: modified versions of the Static-99 and the Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide.
Abstract
The Static-99 consists of 10 items: prior sex offenses, prior sentencing dates, noncontact sex offense convictions, nonsexually violent index offense conviction, prior nonsexual violent convictions, unrelated victim, stranger victim, male victim, young age at time first at risk for recidivism, and never married. Static-99 scores range from 0 to 12 and can be grouped into four risk categories. The Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG) consists of 14 items: lived with biological parents to age 16, elementary school maladjustment, history of alcohol problems, never married, nonviolent criminal history score, violent criminal history score, prior hands-on sex offense convictions, female victims under 14 years old exclusively, failure on prior conditional release, young age at index offense, meets DSM-III criteria for a personality disorder, meets DSM-III criteria for schizophrenia, any deviant phallometric test results, and Psychopathy Checklist-Revised score. All participants (n=258) were assessed at the Royal Ottawa Hospital (Canada), Sexual Behaviors Clinic between 1983 and 1993. The independent contributions to the prediction of recidivism made by each instrument and by various phallometric indices were explored. Both instruments demonstrated moderate levels of predictive accuracy for sexual and violent (including sexual) recidivism. They were not significantly different in terms of their predictive accuracy for sexual or violent recidivism. Of the phallometric indices examined, only the pedophile index added significantly to the prediction of sexual recidivism, but not violent recidivism above the Static-99 alone. 6 tables and 44 references