The recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Kansas v. Hendricks (1997) will focus increased attention on the legal, social science, and clinical issues related to sexual offenders. Such issues include the risk of recidivism by sexual offenders, the extent to which this risk is reduced through treatment, and the degree to which assessment and treatment of sexual offenders can be informed by social science data and is relevant for legal decision making. The authors critically review the research on sexual offender recidivism and the impact of treatment on such recidivism, and analyze the legal decision-making contexts that characterize the decisions facing courts concerning sexual offenders. The authors then describe a clinical decisionmaking model with the potential for linking assessment with interventions for sexual offenders, in a way that can facilitate relevance and accuracy in decision making for both clinicians and courts.

This study focused on the outcomes of juvenile delinquents ( N = 140) following their conviction, commitment for residential placement, and return to the community on parole. Participants were followed for a period of 1 year postrelease. A random stratified sampling procedure was used to select participants from urban, suburban, and rural sites. Ratings of poor parole adjustment (73%), as well as observed rates of parole violation (73%) and reoffending (40%) across the entire sample reflected a substantial proportion of unfavorable outcomes during follow-up. Stepwise regression yielded significant predictive capacity for offense, school, and family variables toward parole violation ( R = .30) and parole adjustment ( R = .41), and a trend toward significance in the prediction of reoffending ( R = .31), although the modest size of these coefficients would limit practical utility. The results are discussed in the context of intervention and risk-reduction planning throughout residential placement and postrelease community living.

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