Date of Award

January 2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Richard Wise

Abstract

Researchers generally agree that treatment reduces the likelihood of sexual offender recidivism. However, studies show attrition rates of up to 85% in some treatment programs for sex offenders. Because many risk factors for recidivism and treatment attrition are the same, the present study used gold-standard risk assessments to predict which sex offenders would not complete a community treatment program. The Static-99r, Stable-2007, and URICA assessed static risk factors, dynamic needs, and responsivity to treatment for 289 sex offenders. Pre-treatment scores from the sex offenders in the sample indicated that these assessment instruments could predict treatment attrition for sex offenders in community treatment (AUC = .928). The Stable-2007 was the best predictor of treatment attrition. Implications of the results and directions for future research are also discussed.

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