ABSTRACT
Significant progress has been made in the assessment of risk for future offending in criminal and forensic psychiatric populations. A number of studies have been conducted using risk assessments on offenders with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). A major recent development in the use of psychological treatment for sex offenders with IDD has been the employment of cognitive and problem solving techniques within therapy. Sex offenders are less likely to reoffend than non-sexual offenders who commit predominantly violent and acquisitive offences. While static risk assessments are promising, caution should be considered for decisions made on offenders with IDD in relation to their risk. Dynamic risk assessments contrast with static risk assessment in that the variables can be changed through treatment and management of the individual. The principal treatments that have been developed are those for violence and sexual offending but there are also new approaches for criminal thinking and alcohol-related violence.
