NCJ Number
215781
Journal
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 207-226
Date Published
April 2006
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study used principal components analysis on items that compose the following actuarial instruments used with adult sex offenders: the Rapid Assessment of Sex Offender Risk for Recidivism (RASORR), the Static-99, the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG), the Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG), and the Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool-Revised (MnSOST-R).
Abstract
In a dataset that included child molesters and rapists (n=311), 6 interpretable components were identified: Antisocial Behavior, Child Sexual Abuse, Persistence, Detached Predatory Behavior, Young and Single, and Male Victims. The RASORR correlated highly with Persistence, and the VRAG and SORAG correlated highly with Antisocial Behavior. Antisocial Behavior was a significant predictor of violent reoffending, and Persistence and Child Sexual Abuse were significant predictors of sexual reoffending. The results of factor analyses of actuarial items provide clinicians who use multiple actuarial instruments with some guidance in interpreting differences and conflicts between the results from different instruments when they occur. Data on recidivism outcomes were obtained for sexual offenders who had been released to the community and were therefore at risk to reoffending during the followup period. Data obtained on each offender included basic identifying information; information on family, education, and employment history; and past and current offense information. Sources used to code data were archived clinical files; a computerized national database that contains correctional, psychological, and psychiatric reports on federally sentenced offenders (Canada); and law enforcement records on all criminal charges and convictions in Canada. Reoffending information was obtained from official records up to December 13, 2001. The average time at risk for the sample was 5.9 years. All data analyses were conducted with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 12. 6 tables and 37 references