Rethinking Risk Assessment for Incest Offenders

Current trends in sex-offender treatment programming highlight the need for effective and accurate assessment (Furr, 1993; McGrath, 1991). The process of assessment inherently assumes that certain individuals (e.g., rapists, homosexual pedophiles) are more likely to reoffend or are a greater risk to the community at large (Clelland, Studer, & Reddon, 1998; Quinsey, 1986). This is an increasingly important field of exploration, particularly in view of current fiscal constraints on resources to treat offenders.