General Recidivism among Sex offenders: An Exploration of Correctional Data

• In Event: Research from Emerging Scholars in Life-Course Criminology

Abstract

Prior research has extensively documented diverse independent risk factors associated with patterns of sex offender recidivism. However, questions remain about how co-occurring risk factors stack up to produce a cumulative effect. Expanding on prior research, this study uses correctional data from a large cohort of released sex offenders (n = 9,758) to explore the relationship between cumulative risk indices, composed of psychological and social risk factors, and two different forms of recidivism (i.e., reconviction for any crime and reconviction for a technical violation). Results from survival models suggest that social and psychological cumulative risk factors are associated with recidivism in this study. Implications will be discussed in the context of criminological theory and practice.

Authors

• Autryana McGee, Texas A&M University

• Jonathan C. Reid, Texas A&M University

• Raquel V. Oliveira, Augusta University