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Abstract: 

Regardless of all historical arguments about the ability of clinicians to accurately predict violent behavior, new commitment laws targeting sexual predators have mandated that clinicians do so successfully. The resultant debate, focusing on the ability to predict future criminal, violent and sexually violent behavior, is an extremely complex one, complicated by a multitude of psychological, behavioral, and genetic variances. The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the concept of risk, its history, and the current state-of-the-art knowledge on prediction of criminal behavior, with a special focus on the causes and implications of violent behavior.

Keywords: risk; sex crimes

Affiliations:  1: Training and Research Institute, Inc.