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Abstract: 

Editor’s Note: This article is the second in a series assessing the current state of sex offender assessment and treatment. The first article, which was published in 6 (2) SLR, focused on risk assessment of sex offenders in many jurisdictions. (Philip H. Witt and Lori H. Lessin, “Overview of Sex Offender Risk Assessments,” 6 (2) SLR 19 (Feb./ Mar. 2005).) This article examines the development of risk assessment guidelines and explains how such actuarial assessments help improve the ability to predict risk at various stages of the legal and treatment process. This article focuses on how to assess dynamic risk factors—a key focus of current therapeutic practices. In particular, the article helps to explain how it is possible to assess change, how positive changes in dynamic risk factors can be balanced against poor static, historical risk factors, and what structures are available to assess change. The next article in the series will discuss the effectiveness of sex-offender-specific treatment.

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Affiliations:  1: Psychological Services, P.A.; 2: New Jersey Department of Corrections.