We provide psychological sexual behaviour assessments of risk and treatment needs for men and women who have been arrested, charged, or convicted of sexual offences. Our assessments use actuarial measures of risk and needs to provide an estimate of risk for future sexual reoffence, identify treatment targets, and make recommendations for intervention, supervision, and management. Sexual behaviour assessments may be useful within decision making contexts that focus on risk management, identification of intervention needs, supervision, and probation or parole decisions for individuals charged with or convicted of sexual offences.
Psychological sexual behaviour risk assessments do not provide information regarding guilt or innocence and do not provide nuanced risk statements regarding the safety of particular individuals (e.g., biological or step-children) in specific contexts (e.g. within a family home). As such these types of assessments are typically not considered helpful within family court contexts.
One component of the psychosexual assessment is phallometric testing (penile plethysmography). Phallometric testing is the direct measurement of sexual interests in male subjects. Erectile responding is monitored while individuals listen to various auditory sexual stimuli. The results of phallometric testing are integrated into the full psychosexual assessment. Phallometric testing is not offered as a standalone assessment.