Sex Offender Assessment Methods

Introduction

Sexual offenders usually cause great harm to the societal at large leading a high level of public concern. When a person commits a sex-related crime, he or she is referred as a sex offender. Different culture and legal jurisdiction have different meaning and understanding about what constitutes a sex crime. When determining what to do with a sex offender, when and how to do it and the reasons for doing that, should be considered carefully. Development, needs, levels of risk and functioning of such individuals should be taken into consideration. Risk assessment is important because it helps in providing information on key decisions like the level of care the offenders required, treatment, and the type of placement (Doren, 2002).

They include unguided or unstructured which involves the health professionals relying on their intuition about the person under assessment. The health professional reviews case materials presented to him and use his experience to make a judgment without using any specific risk factors. This method is not reliable since the health professional can be biased. It is also inconsistent since different professionals can make a different judgment. Attempts should be made to improve the reliability of this method since the impact of incorrect assessments of a sex offender is significant (Andrews, Bonta, &Wormith, 2006). This method is less accurate when evaluating the risk of violent

Female sex offenders are assessed with an aim of establishing the future likelihood of re-occurrence of such sexual offensive behavior and to establish mechanisms that can be used to decrease the risk and rate of recidivism. They exhibit a higher level of vulnerability connected to these sexual offensive behaviors. An extensive victimization history and social and psychological alienation are issues that are common among most sexual offenders. Static risk factors associated with female sexual offenders include history of criminal offenses, child abuse offenses, drug arrest and prior sexual offense arrest. Dynamic risk factors include substance abuse, problematic relationships, wanting revenge, desire to be intimate with a victim and using of sex as a tool for regulating emotional state. In a study conducted by Sandler & Freeman (2009), the recidivism rate among female sexual offenders was found to be lower than the rate of male sex