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Doyle DJ, Ogloff J, Thomas S. Designated as Dangerous: Characteristics of Sex Offenders Subject to Post‐Sentence Orders in Australia. AUSTRALIAN PSYCHOLOGIST 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-9544.2010.00006.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dominic J Doyle
- Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University and Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare), Clifton Hill, Victoria
| | - James Ogloff
- Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University and Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare), Clifton Hill, Victoria
| | - Stuart Thomas
- Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University and Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare), Clifton Hill, Victoria
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Allan A, Parry CL, Ferrante A, Gillies C, Griffiths CS, Morgan F, Spiranovic C, Smallbone S, Tubex H, Wong SCP. Assessing the Risk of Australian Indigenous Sexual Offenders Reoffending: A Review of the Research Literature and Court Decisions. PSYCHIATRY, PSYCHOLOGY, AND LAW : AN INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF THE AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION OF PSYCHIATRY, PSYCHOLOGY AND LAW 2018; 26:274-294. [PMID: 31984077 PMCID: PMC6762098 DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2018.1504242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2018] [Accepted: 07/21/2018] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The assessment of offenders' risk of reoffending, particularly sexual reoffending, is a core activity of forensic mental health practitioners. The purpose of these assessments is to reduce the risk of harm to the public, but they are controversial and become more contentious when Australian practitioners who want to undertake such assessments in an ethically responsible way must use reliable validated instruments, disclose the limitations of their assessment methods, instruments and data to judicial decision-makers and understand how decision-makers might use their reports. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to explore the practices of Australian practitioners and courts in respect of the assessment of Australian Indigenous male sexual offenders' risk of reoffending. We could not identify an instrument that has been developed for the assessment of this population group. Australian courts differ in whether they admit and give weight to practitioners' evidence and opinions based on data obtained with non-validated instruments. We could only identify three possible predictor variables with enough quantitative support to justify including them in an instrument that could be used to assess Indigenous sexual offenders. There is a need for research regarding the validity of the instruments that practitioners use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfred Allan
- School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan
University, Joondalup, WA, Australia
| | - Catherine L. Parry
- School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan
University, Joondalup, WA, Australia
| | - Anna Ferrante
- PHRN Centre for Data Linkage, Faculty of
Health Sciences, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA,
Australia
| | | | - Catherine S. Griffiths
- School of Population and Global Health,
University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Francis Morgan
- School of Law, University of
Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
- School of Population and Global Health,
University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Caroline Spiranovic
- School of Law, University of
Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
- Law School, University of Western
Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Stephen Smallbone
- Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith
University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Hilde Tubex
- Law School, University of Western
Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Stephen C. P. Wong
- Department of Psychology, University of
Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada and
Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of
Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia
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Larcombe W. Sex offender risk assessment: the need to place recidivism research in the context of attrition in the criminal justice system. Violence Against Women 2012; 18:482-501. [PMID: 22807501 DOI: 10.1177/1077801212452249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Jurisdictions in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia now have laws that enable preventive detention of post-sentence sex offenders based on an assessment of the offender's likely recidivism. Measures of recidivism, or risk assessments, rely on the criminal justice process to produce the "pool" of sex offenders studied. This article argues that recidivism research needs to be placed in the context of attrition studies that document the disproportionate and patterned attrition of sexual offenses and sexual offenders from the criminal justice process. Understanding the common biases that affect criminal prosecution of sex offenses would improve sexual violence prevention policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wendy Larcombe
- Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
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Vess J. Ethical practice in sex offender assessment: consideration of actuarial and polygraph methods. SEXUAL ABUSE : A JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND TREATMENT 2011; 23:381-396. [PMID: 20944058 DOI: 10.1177/1079063210382045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The current generation of community protection laws represents a shift in priorities that may see the individual rights of sex offenders compromised for the goal of public safety. At the center of many judicial decisions under these laws are the risk assessment reports provided by mental health practitioners. The widespread enactment of laws allowing for additional sanctions for sex offenders, and a burgeoning research literature regarding the methods used to assess risk have served to heighten rather than resolve the ethical concerns associated with professional practice in this area. This article examines ethical issues inherent in the use of two assessment methods commonly used with sex offenders in the correctional context, focusing on actuarial measures and polygraph tests. Properly conducted and adequately reported actuarial findings are considered to provide useful information of sufficient accuracy to inform rather than mislead judicial decision makers, although careful consideration must be given to the limitations of current measures in each individual case. Despite its increasing use, polygraph testing is considered controversial, with little consensus regarding its accuracy or appropriate applications. On the basis of the current state of the professional literature regarding the polygraph, its use with sex offenders raises unresolved ethical concerns.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Vess
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, VIC, Australia.
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