Utilization and implications of the Static-99 in practice

Area of Science:

• Forensic Psychology
• Clinical Criminology
• Risk Assessment

Background:

• The Static-99 is a widely used risk assessment tool for sexual violence in North America.
• Its scores significantly influence criminal and civil justice decisions.
• Limited research exists on how clinicians utilize the Static-99 in practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare Static-99 ratings between clinicians and researchers.
• To evaluate the predictive validity of clinician versus researcher ratings.
• To examine the impact of clinician overrides on risk assessment accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Compared Static-99 ratings of clinicians and researchers for 100 male sex offenders.
• Followed participants for an average of 4 years post-treatment.
• Analyzed agreement and predictive validity of original and clinician-adjusted ratings.

Main Results:

• Good agreement observed between clinician and researcher Static-99 total scores and most items.
• Clinician ratings were slightly lower than researcher ratings.
• Predictive validity was similar and moderate for both clinician and researcher ratings.
• Clinician overrides in 30 cases resulted in worse predictive validity than original clinician ratings.

Conclusions:

• Clinician and researcher Static-99 ratings demonstrate good agreement.
• Clinician overrides of Static-99 scores can diminish predictive accuracy.
• Emphasizes the need for quality assurance, training, and evidence-based guidelines for score overrides.