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Abstract: 

This article examines the legal and clinical history of the risk assessment tools commonly used to identify sexual predators or impose civil commitment on offenders judged to be a risk to society. The authors find that these assessment tools are often misinterpreted and misused; inconsistent findings between lab research and field practices; and that the strongest predictors of sexual reoffending are often left out of the risk assessments reported to the courts, while lesser predictors are used to justify commitment, and that such practices justify concerns about the apparent disconnect between research findings and reported practices in the use of these measures.

Keywords: Risk Assessment Tools; PCL-R; Static-99/99R; Recidivism; Civil Commitment

Affiliations:  1: University of Massachusetts, Lowell; 2: University of Massachusetts, Lowell.