Recidivism and the Sexually Violent Predator Population

Abstract

Sexually violent predator (SVP) laws were designed to detain offenders who pose a high risk of sexual re-offense if released into the community following their prison sentence. But how much risk of reoffending do SVPs pose? Research has sought to estimate the recidivism risk for this unique sex offender population through various methods, including looking at known recidivism rates for actual SVPs, using like comparison samples, examining risk based on criminal history and actuarial measures, and the use of modeling analyses. While studies generally suggest similar or higher rates of recidivism for SVPs as compared to other sex offenders, the data varies widely depending on the sample and methodology. Clearly, there is still a lot to learn about recidivism in SVP samples, and this chapter highlights the need for further research.