Issues Surrounding the Risk Assessment of Sexual Offenders with an Intellectual Disability

Abstract

The assessment and treatment of sex offenders with an intellectual disability has received increasing attention over the last 15 to 20 years but there has been little research conducted on the evaluation of assessment and treatment approaches to this client group. The general area of sex offender risk assessment has been subject to a considerable degree of research over the years but none of this research has clearly differentiated the intellectually disabled in population samples. Nevertheless, in at least two prominent risk assessments, intellectual disability is defined as a static risk factor. Serious methodological problems exist in the research that has focused upon the offender with an intellectual disability, with inconsistent criteria being set to define intellectual disability. This precludes any attempt to define base rates of recidivism for this population. Protective factors for this population in Victoria are discussed, particularly the informed monitoring ability of staff working with this client group. Future research needs to differentiate this population from other samples and care must be taken to include only those individuals who have been formally diagnosed as having an intellectual disability.