NCJ Number
206263
Journal
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2004 Pages: 235-254
Date Published
July 2004
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This was a study of preliminary psychometric data to examine the estimate of risk of adolescent sexual offense recidivism.
Abstract
The Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offense Recidivism (ERASOR) is an empirically guided checklist designed to assist clinicians to estimate the short-term risk of a sexual reoffense for youth ages 12-18 years of age. The ERASOR provides objective coding instructions for 25 risk factors. To investigate the psychometric properties, risk ratings were collected from 28 clinicians who evaluated 136 adolescent males following comprehensive, clinical assessments. Unlike most research in this field, which is based on file review, this study used evaluators’ ratings following actual clinical assessments. In all cases, these were comprehensive assessments that were focused on multiple areas of functioning and involved multiple sources of information. Preliminary psychometric data were found to be supportive of the reliability and item composition of the tool. ERASOR ratings also significantly discriminated adolescents based on whether or not they had previously been sanctioned for a prior sexual offense. There is an increasing awareness in the field that adolescents who commit a sexual assault are heterogeneous with respect to most variables assessed, including the risk of a sexual reoffense. Through more collaborative and systematic research regarding risk assessment, treatment outcome, and sexual recidivism, there should be more empirical guidance to make clinical decisions that are fair and balanced. Tables, references