Sexual Offending Risk Assessment: Field Study of Predictive Validity

This thesis describes a field study that was conducted on several risk assessment measures used to determine the risk of recidivism in a population of adult males with histories of sexual offending who participated in a sex-offence specific treatment program. A key objective was to determine whether the structured professional judgement measure, the Risk for Sexual Violence Protocol, had an acceptable degree of predictive validity for the assessment of sexual recidivism. This research provides insight into the issues associated with field usage of risk assessment measures and commentary on how these processes may be improved within research and clinical practice.