Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA.
Sex Abuse. 2023 Aug;35(5):568-595. doi: 10.1177/10790632221139176. Epub 2022 Nov 8.
Public and clinician attitudes are important to consider when studying the reentry of individuals who sexually offend. Uninformed public attitudes drive the continued use of ineffective policies like registries and residential restrictions in the United States, and experts must assess risk to decide what level of supervision and control to recommend upon release from prison. This study investigated whether actuarial feedback could change participant attitudes about recidivism risk and disposition. Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse (ATSA) members and a sample from MTurk completed a survey using vignettes to assess recidivism risk and dispositional outcomes of individuals who had sexually offended and varied in their risk to reoffend. They received feedback about the individuals' Static-99R risk levels and adjusted their initial ratings. ATSA members were less punitive than MTurk participants, initially predicted risk that was more consistent with actuarial data, and adjusted when incorrect. MTurk participants held more negative attitudes towards individuals who sexually offend, as measured by the ATS-21. They adjusted their risk ratings more than ATSA members, though their estimates were still higher than the ATSA members after feedback. Implications for US public policy, including the recommendation to use actuarials across the country, are discussed.
在研究性犯罪者重新融入社会时，公众和临床医生的态度是需要考虑的重要因素。在美国，公众的态度不明智，导致了像登记制度和居住限制等无效政策的持续使用，专家必须评估风险，以决定在从监狱获释后应建议何种程度的监督和控制。本研究调查了行为评估反馈是否可以改变参与者对累犯风险和处置的态度。性虐待治疗和预防协会 (ATSA) 的成员和来自 MTurk 的一个样本使用情景模拟来评估曾经性犯罪且风险程度不同的个体的累犯风险和处置结果。他们收到了关于个人静态-99R 风险水平的反馈，并调整了他们的初始评级。ATSA 成员比 MTurk 参与者的惩罚性更低，最初预测的风险更符合行为评估数据，并在错误时进行了调整。MTurk 参与者对性犯罪者持有更消极的态度，这可以通过 ATS-21 来衡量。他们比 ATSA 成员更调整了他们的风险评级，尽管在反馈后，他们的估计仍然高于 ATSA 成员。讨论了对美国公共政策的影响，包括在全国范围内使用行为评估的建议。
