Managing sexual offenders in the community

The evolution of risk assessments with sexual/violent offenders is discussed, along with the role of police officers employing Active Risk Management System (ARMS). An updated systematic review evaluating the effectiveness of risk tools for predicting sexual recidivism in adult male offenders revealed moderate predictive accuracy with only three of 25 tools demonstrating a large effect size (AUC > .714). Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the usefulness of ARMS was conducted. The global theme of 'risk reduction' was identified. Results suggested that police officers employing ARMS would like to see changes to the tool, though overall, it improved their confidence in assessing offenders. Quantitative data were collected from a regional police force \((N=434)\),revealing four components, namely, sexual risk, protective factors, hostile attitude and relationship status. Whilst the results have important practice implications for police officers managing offenders in the community, additional longitudinal research will be required with regard to the effectiveness of ARMS. As RM2000 is incorporated within ARMS, a critique is provided. Whilst this tool can be a helpful adjunct to assessment, it is important to combine results with structured professional judgement, protective factors and a thorough case formulation. A tailored approach to assessment and treatment is advocated