NCJ Number
217126
Journal
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment Volume: 18 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2006 Pages: 343-355
Date Published
October 2006
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined the accuracy of the Static-99 actuarial risk assessment tool for estimating sexual offender recidivism risk among older sexual offenders.
Abstract
Findings indicated that the Static-99 was moderately accurate in estimating the relative recidivism risk for the different age groups under examination. Older sexual offenders had lower Static-99 scores than younger sexual offenders. Results also revealed, however, that the older sexual offenders had lower actual recidivism rates than was indicated by their Static-99 scores. Evaluators who use the Static-99 should therefore take into account the overall lower recidivism risk for offenders of advanced age when preparing estimates of risk for older sexual offenders. Researchers analyzed Static-99 scores and recidivism information for eight different samples drawn from previous studies in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom: (1) a Canadian Federal study on sexual offender recidivism; (2) a Canadian Federal--Quebec Region study on sexual offender recidivism; (3) the Millbrook Recidivism Study; (4) the Institut Philippe Pinel study on sexual offender treatment and recidivism; (5) Her Majesty’s Prison Service follow up study on all sexual offenders released in 1979; (6) Washington State’s Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative dataset; (7) the Manitoba Probation risk scale study; and (8) the Dynamic Supervision Project. All 3,425 offenders were adult males. Cox regression analyses were used to examine the combined effects of Static-99 and age. Future research should examine how advanced age impacts the recidivism risk of offenders who grow old in prison. Tables, references