Child services organisations need policies that minimise the risk of sexual abuse of the children in their care. In particular, managers (and the public) are justifiably concerned when abuse is perpetrated by individuals who should not have been working with children in the first place. Unfortunately, there has been relatively little work on…

This review compared the accuracy of various approaches to the prediction of recidivism among sexual offenders. On the basis of a meta-analysis of 536 findings drawn from 118 distinct samples (45,398 sexual offenders, 16 countries), empirically derived actuarial measures were more accurate than unstructured professional judgment for all outcomes…

Objectives: Since the late 1980s, there has been a strong theoretical focus on psychological and social influences of perpetration of child sexual abuse. This paper presents the results of a review and meta-analysis of studies examining risk factors for perpetration of child sexual abuse published since 1990. Method: Eighty-nine studies published…

Long-term recidivism rates of 197 child molesters released from prison between 1958 and 1974 were examined. Of the total sample, 42% were reconvicted for sexual crimes, violent crimes, or both. Other factors associated with increased recidivism were never being married and previous sexual offenses. (Author/SR)

Compared the long-term recidivism of 191 child molesters and 137 nonsexual criminals. Overall, 83.2% of the nonsexual criminals and 61.8% of the child molesters were reconvicted for distinct types of offenses. In general, prior offenses of a specific type predicted future offenses of the same type. (JBJ)