title: Risk factors for criminal recidivism in older sexual offenders.
abstract: Sexual offenders constitute a substantial proportion of the older male prison population. Recent research findings, with potential consequences for risk management, indicate that recidivism risk might be lower in older sexual offenders. We followed up all adult male sexual offenders released from prison in Sweden during 1993-1997 (N=1,303) for criminal reconviction for an average of 8.9 years. We studied rates of repeat offending (sexual and any violent) by four age bands (<25, 25-39, 40-54, and 55+years), and examined whether risk factors for recidivism remained stable across age groups. Results showed that recidivism rates decreased significantly in older age bands. In addition, the effect of certain risk factors varied by age band. These findings on recidivism rates in older sexual offenders concur with studies from the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada and may suggest some generalizability in Western settings. Further research is needed to address underlying mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. seena.fazel@psych.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: Seena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fazel
authors.forename: Gabrielle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sjöstedt
authors.forename: Niklas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Långström
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013548:Sweden