The Assessment of Paraphilic and Non-Paraphilic Rapists

The assessment of individuals who rape is a fundamental component of risk management and effective rehabilitation. Rapists are an extremely heterogeneous offender group and important differences between rapists and other sexual offenders have been noted. Such diversity underscores the importance of assessment but also poses a significant challenge to evaluators who work with this type of sexual offender. There are a number of different areas that are relevant when assessing rapists in addition to several different methodologies for gathering relevant information. This chapter reviews the methodological issues associated with common assessment methods used with rapists, including nosological diagnoses, risk to reoffend, and the identification of treatment need.