NCJ Number
227204
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 36 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2009 Pages: 443-465
Date Published
May 2009
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study investigated whether sex offenders' age at release from custody affected their likelihood of reoffending.
Abstract
Results of the study found, as predicted, that most actuarial items in sex offender assessment instruments were correlated with the age of offenders at the time of their release from custody. Also, as predicted, items that reflected aspects of antisocial behavior were negatively correlated with age at release whereas items that reflected sexual deviance were positively correlated. As demonstrated, these correlations between item scores and age at release were consistent with differing ages at release from custody of the different sex offender subgroups. The results provide a strong counterargument to previous research claiming that aging has no important effect on recidivism risk in sex offenders. A large body of evidence has recently accumulated indicating that recidivism in sex offenders decreases with the age of the offender at the time of his release from custody. Despite the weight of this evidence, aging has not been incorporated as a risk factor into general practice in forensic assessment, either of the sexual or the nonsexual violent offender. This study continued the exploration of the relationship between aging and actuarial risk in the prediction of recidivism in sex offenders. Three predictor scales (antisocial behavior, sexual deviance, and age at release) were constructed, and each were independent of the others. Using Cox regression, the significance of each of these scales and combinations of scales in its prediction of both sexual and violent recidivism were evaluated. Of particular interest, was the evaluation of the significance of the addition of age at release to the prediction equation over and above actuarial information. Tables, notes, and references