The Predictive Validity of the SAPROF-SO for Success on Supervised Release From a Secure Treatment Center

Recent research has highlighted the importance of protective factors in preventing sexual offense recidivism and led to the development of a number of strengths-based approaches to the treatment of adult males who have been convicted of sexual offenses. However, these approaches have not been supported by structured methods to assess protective factors. The Structured Assessment of PROtective Factors against Sexual Offending (SAPROF-SO) was designed to bridge the gap between assessment and strengths-based treatment, and the current study contributes to the validation of that instrument. The SAPROF-SO was rated retrospectively for adult males released on supervised release from a secure treatment center in the US (N = 170). SAPROF-SO total scores predicted supervised release success as measured by revocation outcomes. In addition, results highlighted the utility of the SAPROF-SO Resilience subscale in predicting supervised release revocation for any reason and the Adaptive Sexuality subscale in predicting sexually related revocations. Notably, the SAPROF-SO demonstrated incremental validity over the Static-99R, which was not predictive of revocation outcomes. Implications for the management of sexual offense risk when planning and administering release from criminal justice contexts are discussed.