Premium
Sexual offence recidivism: prediction versus understanding
Author(s) -
Grubin Don,
Wingate Sarah
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
criminal behaviour and mental health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1471-2857
pISSN - 0957-9664
DOI - 10.1002/cbm.121
Subject(s) - recidivism , psychology , risk assessment , criminology , actuarial science , sex offense , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , sexual abuse , computer science , computer security , medicine , medical emergency , business
This paper identifies from the literature risk factors for reoffending in convicted sex offenders. Unless all sex offenders are to be incarcerated for indeterminate lengths of time, some means to separate higher from lower risk men is clearly necessary. The complexities of the move from identifying high‐risk groups to predicting risk in specific individuals is discussed. It is argued that the focus should be shifted from the search for single, putatively predictive variables to an attempt to understand why recidivism occurs. Copyright © 1996 Whurr Publishers Ltd.