Abstract: Empirical Models of Evaluating Change in Sexual Offenders: Linkages to Risk Assessment and Management

The identification of high risk men to be targeted for treatment services and other risk management efforts has important policy, public safety, criminal justice, and health related implications. This session will review issues in theory, research, and clinical practice in the assessment and management of risk in sexual and violent offenders. Emphases will be placed on the treatment change literature and its practice based considerations, particularly regarding the linkage of measuring treatment-related changes to changes in risk for sexual and violent recidivism. The incorporation of change information into sexual and violence risk assessments, with supporting data, will be discussed with implications for the adjustment of post-service risk appraisals to inform conditional release and supervision decisions.

Dr. Mark Olver Ph.D. is Associate Professor, Registered Doctoral Psychologist (Saskatchewan, Canada), and Director of Clinical Psychology Training at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, where he is involved in program administration, graduate and undergraduate teaching, research, and clinical training. Prior to his academic appointment, Mark worked as a clinical psychologist in various capacities, including providing assessment, treatment, and consultation services to young offenders in the Saskatoon Health Region and with adult federal offenders in the Correctional Service of Canada. Mark’s research interests include offender risk assessment and treatment, young offenders, psychopathy, and the evaluation of therapeutic change. He is the co-developer of the Violence Risk Scale-Sexual Offender version (VRS-SO) and he provides training and consultation services internationally in the assessment and treatment of sexual, violent, and psychopathic offenders.