Evaluation of Civil Commitment Criteria in a High Risk Sample of Sexual Offenders

Abstract

The contribution of DSM‐IV diagnoses of Paraphilia and Personality Disorder to predictions of sexual recidivism were examined for a group of high risk sexual offenders (i.e., scores of 5 or higher on the Satatic‐99). It was found that none of the sub‐groups of offenders re‐ offended at rates which approached 50% (approximately 5 year follow‐up) and that only for a group that met both personality Disorder and Paraphilia diagnoses did the recidivism rate exceed 20%. In addition, Psychopathy did not add to the validity of predictions. Results are discussed in terms of the validity of the SVP criteria and clinicians ability to distinguish high‐risk sexual offenders from other groups.