Intellectual Disability, Risk, and Recidivism in an American Sample of Incarcerated Sexual Offenders
Date of Award
Spring 6-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department/Program
Forensic Psychology
Language
English
First Advisor or Mentor
Elizabeth L. Jeglic
Second Reader
Cynthia Calkins
Third Advisor
Rebecca Weiss
Abstract
Research suggests that intellectual disabilities (ID) are prevalent among people who sexually offend. Those with ID may differ from their non-disabled counterparts with regard to risk factors associated with recidivism. Additionally, actuarial measures of risk, which are used to make determinations on sentencing and civil commitment, appear to differ in their predictive accuracy among individuals with and without ID. Despite this, little data exists on recidivism in this population, particularly among incarcerated individuals in the United States. The present study sought to compare individuals with and without ID on rates of re-offense, actuarial risk scores, and rates of civil commitment. Data were obtained via archival records for 3,066 individuals who were either released from one of New Jersey’s state prisons or selected for civil commitment as sexually violent predators between 1996 and 2007. Police records were used to examine overall recidivism as well as reincarceration for different types of offenses. Individuals with ID did not differ on rates of recidivism or reincarceration but received higher scores on actuarial risk assessments and were more likely to be placed under civil commitment. These results raise important ethical questions about the use of actuarial tools for this population and suggest that risk factors associated with recidivism may differ for those with and without ID.
Recommended Citation
Callahan, Perry A., "Intellectual Disability, Risk, and Recidivism in an American Sample of Incarcerated Sexual Offenders" (2022). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_etds/225
Comments
This research was supported in part by Grant No. NIJ 2007-IJ-CX- 0037 from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.