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“Lock ’em up and throw away the key...”.

Article · January 2016

DOI: 10.1037/a0040072

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PsycCRITIQUES
March 7, 2016, Vol. 61, No. 10, Article 3
© 2016 American Psychological Association

“Lock ’em up and throw away the key .

. .”

A Review of

Sexual Predators: Society, Risk, and the Law

by Robert A. Prentky, Howard E. Barbaree, and Eric S. Janus
New York, NY: Routledge, 2015. 356 pp. ISBN 978-0-415-87045-0.
$54.95, paperback

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0040072

Reviewed by

Richard D. McAnulty

By some estimates, the United States accounts for 4.4% of the world population but 22% of
the global prison population (2.24 million of 10.2 million; Institute for Criminal Policy
Research, 2015). Regardless of whether this is due to the excessive criminality in the United
States or to problems with the criminal justice system, these statistics are staggering.
However, there is one group of prison inmates whose prolonged incarceration does not
cause a public outcry: sex offenders. Sexual Predators: Society, Risk, and the Law, by
Robert Prentky, Howard E. Barbaree, and Eric S. Janus, is the ninth volume in a series
entitled International Perspectives on Forensic Mental Health (R. Roesch & S. Hart, Eds.),
which is designed to provide a forum for issues relating to policy, practice, research, and
administration of health care services in forensic settings. This book is intended primarily for
psychologists and psychiatrists who evaluate offenders and provide testimony, as well as for
judges and lawyers who rely on that expertise. It offers a critical overview of the judicial
system’s handling of sex offenders who are considered threats to society, along with a
research agenda for improvements.

There is no shortage of books that address the problem of sexual predators from a
sensational perspective (see, e.g., Salter’s [2004] Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, and Other
Sex Offenders and Ramsland and McGrain’s [2010] Inside the Minds of Sexual Predators).
Unfortunately, aside from their entertainment value, these books offer little meaningful
information about possible solutions to the problem of sexual predation. What distinguishes
the authors of Sexual Predators: Society, Risk, and the Law from most others is that they
are highly respected scientists with expertise on the topic whose combined professional
experience spans decades. This represents one of the very few balanced and unbiased
approaches to this sensitive subject offered by two psychologists and a lawyer, all of whom
have impressive credentials (Prentky alone has been involved in evaluating over 2,000
offenders).
The Monsters Among Us

Following several highly publicized sexual offense cases dating back to the 1930s, a number
of states enacted sexually violent predator laws (later designated sexually violent person
laws) that permitted prolonged incarceration of offenders who had completed their prison
sentences but were still considered “threats” to the community. The authors review the
legislation and legal procedures, concluding that the indefinite confinement of offenders
considered dangerous is still society’s primary answer to their management. This approach
is a product of “moral panics” and the political exploitation of the fear that is fanned by
sensational media coverage of select gruesome cases.

Panic in the face of threats, particularly when they are embellished, is a natural reaction.
Outrage follows when the threat is personalized and the guilty party’s motives are deemed
malicious or simply “evil.” Perceptions of personal risk are amplified when that risk is
communicated broadly, which is what the mass media do best. The next common reaction
from the alarmed public is a call for prompt and decisive justice. Whether inadvertently or
intentionally, highly publicizing sex crimes exaggerates perceptions of risk, fueling moral
panic or mass hysteria and indignation. These conditions set the stage for knee-jerk
reactions in the form of legislation and policies. Unfortunately, even well-intentioned
policies, like mandatory sex offender registration, often prove to be ineffective (Caldwell &
Dickinson, 2009; Letourneau, Levenson, Bandyopadhyay, Sinha, & Armstrong, 2010).

How Safe Is Safe Enough?

Most of these concerns could be resolved if “dangerousness” could be precisely and

accurately measured. In the context of sexual offending, “courts ask forensic experts to
estimate the likelihood or probability that an offender will re-offend to support its mandate
to protect the public from sexual crime” (p. 73). The book offers an “admiring but critical
look” at actuarial risk assessment instruments (ARAIs) in extensive detail. Because it is
widely accepted that they are marked improvements over clinical judgment, ARAIs are used
in virtually all sexually violent person evaluations and trial testimony. The courts’ views are
probably best summarized by Judge Matt Johnson of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, who
wrote that “actuarial risk-assessment tools surely are an imperfect means of predicting a
particular person’s future behavior, but they appear to provide access to the best prediction
presently available” (In re Civil Commitment of Ince, 2014, p. 9). The authors’ own
summary is that existing ARAIs do offer estimates of absolute recidivism risk in sex
offenders, “but errors of measurement are high” (p. 70).

The ultimate answer to the problem is being able to accurately separate high-risk offenders
from those who are not. Unfortunately, current ARAIs were developed without any guiding
theory about recidivism. Although several variables tapping into antisocial orientation and
sexual deviation have proven to be useful predictors of recidivism, they are confounded by
offender age.
The Agenda

A major limitation in the management of offenders is the absence of any theoretical

framework. Lacking any solid evidence regarding the common developmental pathway in
sexual offending, the process of evaluating an individual’s risk of sexual offending, or
reoffending, is inherently limited. In the same way, efforts to identify effective safeguards
and interventions will be inadequate.

Prentky and colleagues conclude that current policies need to be overhauled based on
empirical evidence of effectiveness, whether it involves treatment in prison or offender
registries. They point out that recidivists account for only a fraction of sex offenses; the
majority of offenses (87%) are perpetrated by new offenders. The ultimate solution is
therefore primary prevention of deviant sexual behavior. Alas, that goal has been largely
ignored.

The last chapter, devoted to the authors’ recommendations, is perhaps the most important,
although somewhat brief in its coverage. It includes a good discussion of the challenges with
expert testimony in adversarial cases, including the “inherent fallibility of human judgment”
(p. 265). They argue for the use of the risk-need-responsivity model and a hypothesis-
testing model in addressing the management needs of offenders. The authors conclude by
proposing a life-span perspective for understanding the developmental trajectories of sex
offenders. High-risk offenders, who constitute 10%–14% of the total group, are the ones
who demonstrate sexually problematic behavior early in life, persisting into adulthood. It is
this subgroup of offenders, so called life-course persistent offenders, that needs to be
identified early in life. The final recommendations are for improving ARAIs, including
suggestions for measuring dynamic risk factors that are relatively stable over time and for
including a developmental perspective in risk assessment.

The Bottom Line

This is an important book on a difficult and emotionally charged topic. It is pitched at a

professional level; readers need some background knowledge of sex offending,
measurement theory, actuarial prediction, and a basic understanding of legislation.
However, even less informed readers will grasp most of the concepts, with some exceptions
(Chapter 6, for example, requires a graduate-level knowledge of probability theory and
logistic regression in order to understand the discussion of the challenges in estimating
absolute recidivism risk). Four of the 10 chapters are dedicated to risk assessment,
including a critique of existing instruments. Overall, the coverage of problems in evaluating
sexual predators and providing treatment while protecting society is very balanced, sound,
and impartial. I know of no comparable resource that is timely, practical, and dispassionate.
It should be required reading for any professional who works with sex offenders. I trust that
its recommendations will serve as a foundation for future research and policy in the area.
 References

Caldwell, M. F., & Dickinson, C. (2009). Sex offender registration and recidivism risk in
juvenile sexual offenders. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 27, 941–956.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bsl.907 PsycINFO →
In re Civil Commitment of Ince, A12-1691, 2014 NW 2d13 (Minn. Ct. App. April 23, 2014).
Institute for Criminal Policy Research. (2015). World Prison Brief. London, UK: Author.
Letourneau, E. J., Levenson, J. S., Bandyopadhyay, D., Sinha, D., & Armstrong, K. S.
(2010). Effects of South Carolina’s sex offender registration and notification policy on
adult recidivism. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 21, 435–458. http://dx.doi.org/
10.1177/0887403409353148
Ramsland, K., & McGrain, P. N. (2010). Inside the minds of sexual predators. Santa
Barbara, CA: Praeger. PsycINFO →
Salter, A. (2004). Predators: Pedophiles, rapists, and other sex offenders: Who they are,
how they operate, and how we can protect ourselves and our children. New York, NY:
Basic Books.

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