Citation

Helmus LM. Curr. Psychiatry Rep. 2018; 20(6): e46.

Affiliation

Wandering Vagabond, 807-1189 Melville Street, Vancouver, BC, V6E 4T8, Canada. Lmaaikehelmus@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11920-018-0909-8

PMID

29779064

Abstract

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Risk assessment is one of the most ubiquitous tasks in the criminal justice system, informing virtually every decision made about offenders. This review, intended for researchers and practitioners, outlines some of the most important recent advances, emerging issues, and recommendations in sex offender risk assessment. RECENT FINDINGS: The underlying nature and purpose of risk scales is reviewed, with implications for how we should evaluate them. Limits of recidivism probability estimates are discussed, and efforts to advance a common language for describing risk levels are highlighted. Advances in risk communication and field validity are summarized. The utility of protective risk factors in risk assessments is debated. Emerging areas in assessing offender change and assessments with child pornography offenders are discussed. Despite critical advances in the last few years, there are still important gaps in knowledge, particularly for risk communication, field implementation, offender change, and child pornography offenders.

Language: en

Keywords

Offender assessment; Prediction; Recidivism; Risk assessment; Sexual offenders