Avoiding Garbage 2: Assessment of Risk for Sexual Violence after Long-Term Treatment

Abstract

The 1990s saw an upsurge in statutes and procedures for civil commitment of sexually violent predators. Some current cases involve consideration of whether a person who has been in long-term sex-offender treatment continues to meet commitment criteria. Psychologists' and psychiatrists' roles in such proceedings involve diagnosis, risk assessment, and risk communication. Particular challenges to evaluators are how to integrate and communicate findings regarding estimated risk from static and dynamic factors. Although both are theoretically important in considering a person's risk for sexual reoffense, there are considerably less empirical data regarding dynamic factors than static factors. Therefore evaluators should use considerable caution in using dynamic factors to adjust risk assessments based on static factors, and we should clearly communicate the lack of empirical base for risk-assessment adjustments based on dynamic factors.