ABSTRACT
This chapter considers approaches to the assessment of males convicted of sexual offences, before considering the application of current assessment tools and methods to specialist populations. It focuses on assessment approaches for adult males convicted of sexual offences; females and covers young people elsewhere in this handbook. The chapter explores empirically derived risk factors linked to sexual offending recidivism and some of the overarching approaches to determining levels of risk among those convicted of sexual offences. It also considers the use of actuarial and structured professional judgment approaches to a range of ‘specialist’ populations. The chapter draws on three specialist groups: those with autistic spectrum disorder, deaf clients, and transgender clients. It discusses some general principles to guide decision making for the use of standardised risk assessments for specialist populations. L. Jones proposes that use of official conviction data as a means of accurately assessing prevalence of sexual offending is confounded by detection evasion skills and conviction evasion skills.
