Risk assessment of intimate partner violent reoffending: A longitudinal study with the Spousal Assault Risk Assessment guide

Abstract

SARA is the intimate partner violence (IPV) risk assessment guide with greater empirical contrasts around western world. The present study is the first in Latin America to explore its predictive validity through a prospective study. An accidental sample of 125 men charged with IPV was evaluated in a pre-trial instance and followed across 8 months. A 20 % of them had a new IPV judicial case during follow-up. SARA summary risk ratings, but not the numerical scores, were associated with recidivism. Assessors showed good levels of agreement and a strong correlation between SARA and ODARA numerical scores were found. Our findings indicate that SARA is a suitable choice in forensic assessments and could be a promising instrument for judicial decision making in the Latin American region.