TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2015//
TI  - The Adam Walsh Act: an examination of sex offender risk classification systems
JO  - Sexual abuse: a journal of research and treatment
A1  - Zgoba, Kristen M.
A1  - Miner, Michael
A1  - Levenson, Jill
A1  - Knight, Raymond
A1  - LeTourneau, Elizabeth
A1  - Thornton, David
SP  - 722
EP  - 740
VL  - 28
IS  - 8
N2  - This study was designed to compare the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) classification tiers with actuarial risk assessment instruments and existing state classification schemes in their respective abilities to identify sex offenders at high risk to re-offend. Data from 1,789 adult sex offenders released from prison in four states were collected (Minnesota, New Jersey, Florida, and South Carolina). On average, the sexual recidivism rate was approximately 5% at 5 years and 10% at 10 years. AWA Tier 2 offenders had higher Static-99R scores and higher recidivism rates than Tier 3 offenders, and in Florida, these inverse correlations were statistically significant. Actuarial measures and existing state tier systems, in contrast, did a better job of identifying high-risk offenders and recidivists. As well, we examined the distribution of risk assessment scores within and across tier categories, finding that a majority of sex offenders fall into AWA Tier 3, but more than half score low or moderately low on the Static-99R. The results indicate that the AWA sex offender classification scheme is a poor indicator of relative risk and is likely to result in a system that is less effective in protecting the public than those currently implemented in the states studied.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1079-0632
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1079063215569543
ID  - ref1
ER  -