Sexual Violence Risk – 20

The SVR-20 is a 20-item checklist of risk factors for sexual violence that were identified by a review of the literature on sex offenders.  The checklist was developed to improve the accuracy of assessments for the risk of future sexual violence.  Sexual violence is defined broadly as “actual, attempted, or threatened sexual contact with a person who is nonconsenting or unable to give consent.”  The goals of the SVR-20 guidelines include the following:

• Make risk assessments more systematic.
• Increase agreement among evaluators.
• Provide detailed guidelines grounded in the scientific literature.
• Assist in the planning and delivery of interventions (treatment and supervision).
• Objectively evaluate the adequacy of risk assessments.

Risk assessment does not fall exclusively within the domain of any profession or discipline.  Risk assessments are routinely conducted by correctional, psychological, and medical professionals, as well as by multidisciplinary teams.  Evaluators need to understand the factors associated with general crime and violence as well as those associated with sexual violence.  The SVR-20 manual provides information about how and when to conduct sexual violence risk assessments, research on which the basic risk factors are based, and key questions to address when making judgments about risk.

The SVR-20 specifies which risk factors should be assessed and how the risk assessment should be conducted.  The list of risk factors is: (a) empirically related to future sexual violence; (b) useful in making decisions about the management of sex offenders; (c) nondiscriminatory; and (d) reasonably comprehensive without being redundant.  The 20 factors essential in a comprehensive sexual violence risk assessment fall into three main categories: Psychosocial Adjustment, History of Sexual Offenses, and Future Plans.  The actual risk for sexual violence depends on the combination (not just the number) of risk factors present in a specific case.  Coding of the SVR-20 involves determining the presence/absence of each factor and whether there has been any recent change in the status of the factor.  This item-level information is integrated into a summary judgment of the level of risk (Low, Moderate, or High), which can easily be translated into an action plan.

Developed primarily for use in criminal and civil forensic contexts, the SVR-20 is appropriate for use in cases where an individual has committed, or is alleged to have committed, an act of sexual violence:

• Pretrial release decisions.
• Presentence assistance to judges.
• Development of treatment programs at correctional intake.
• Prior to discharge to assist in post-release management.
• Custody/access assessment.
• Determination of need for a community warning.
• Quality assurance or critical incident reviews.
• Education and training.

Review of the Sexual Violence Risk-20

Budrionis, R. M. (2003).
In B. S. Plake, J. C. Impara, & R. A. Spies (Eds.), The fifteenth mental measurements yearbook. Retrieved from http://marketplace.unl.edu/buros/

DESCRIPTION
The Sexual Violence Risk-20 (SVR-20) is designed to assist in identifying individuals who are at risk to commit sexual violence in the future and to rate their likelihood to offend in the future. This instrument is a 20-item assessment procedure that is intended to be administered by individuals who have a “considerable professional skill and judgment” (manual, p. 29). Minimal requirements for evaluation use include training in test administration and interpretation and expertise in the area of sexual offending or sexual violence. Graduate training and professional/legal certification to conduct sex offender assessments, when used for clinical applications, is recommended. Research use requirements are less rigorous, although professional supervision is recommended. Items are coded after all information is collected. Materials used in the evaluation should include historical data, collateral records such as the police report, interview information, psychophysiological data such as polygraph or penile plethysmographic evaluation reports, and standard clinical assessment data such as psychological testing and substance abuse assessment.

DEVELOPMENT
For the purpose of the SVR-20, authors have defined sexual violence as “actual, attempted, or threatened sexual contact with a person who is non-consenting or unable to give consent” (manual, p. 9). This definition includes a broad range of sexual acts ranging from rape, to exhibitionism, to voyeurism. The victims either do not give consent or are legally or functionally unable to do so because of mental deficiency or age, or unawareness of the crime such as being the victim of a voyeur.

The SVR is an integration of factors that were identified through examination of the available research on sex offenders. The authors identified 20 factors that fell into three general categories: (a) Psychosocial Adjustment (11 items), (b) Sexual Offenses (7 items), and (c) Future Plans (2 items.) An additional discretionary category is labeled Other Considerations. Psychosocial Adjustment and Sexual Offense factors are composed mostly of relatively stable factors such as being a victim of child abuse and history of use of weapons or making death threats in sex offenses. Several items are dynamic in nature such as presence of attitudes that support or condone sexual offending. The category, Future Plans, addresses risk factors that are past and current related.

TECHNICAL
Directions for administering the test are clearly written and generally easy to follow. There is no mention of the estimated time for completion of this procedure, although the data gathering and scoring process could be lengthy. Specialized training is required as the scoring process is based on determining the presence or absence of risk factors and recent (past year) change in the status of that factor. The test manual contains numerous cautions regarding the application of the results of the SVR-20 and a “Summary Risk Rating” of Low, Medium, or High is given. Scoring is completed on a coding sheet that is provided.

No validity or reliability information is available for the instrument as a whole as the SVR-20 is the first step in the development of a more comprehensive instrument. Each of the 20 items is discussed separately in the manual with a summary of validity research data supporting its use in this assessment tool.

COMMENTARY
The SVR is designed to be utilized in a number of settings and populations to include civil commitment, presentence evaluations, and community notification. This assessment tool can be used in an actuarial function when dealing with research data. The developers have produced an instrument that attempts to systemize the collection of data related to the risk of sexual violence using research-based data points from which a professional can make a clinical judgment regarding future risk for sexual violence. The SVR has the potential to make a significant contribution to decision-making procedures that are required in the field of sexual violence and sex offender evaluation and treatment. Although still in the initial stages of development, the SVR-20 is to be considered a significant step beyond unstructured clinical judgment.

The validity of scores from the SVR-20 must be evaluated in light of the need for a considerable follow-up period. Predictive validity regarding sexual violence has yet to be demonstrated.

The drawbacks of this procedure include a lack of empirically based cutoff scores. Low, Medium, or High-Risk determination is based on the evaluator’s discretion and clinical acumen with a minimum of guidance from the authors. Also, not all of the 20 items are linked directly to sexual violence. The authors do point out that not all factors are directly linked to sexual violence and at times they qualify the inclusion of an item by stating in the manual that the item is “probably,” or “may also be” associated with risk for future sexual violence. There is no selective weighing of individual items that reflect research data nor are there concrete guidelines for cutoff criteria when coding each item.

In spite of these drawbacks, however, the authors are clear with their assertions for this instrument that the SVR-20 is a set of guidelines to assist professional judgement in evaluating risk of sexual violence rather than an actuarial instrument or a psychological test. This tool has the potential for encouraging research data in a number of venues. In addition, this tool is admirable for its adherence to professional guidelines in the sex offender field and is based on the most current and credible recent research in this challenging field.

SUMMARY
The SVR-20 is a promising tool for assisting with assessment of sexual violence risk with a research-based foundation, clear instructions, and applicability in a wide variety of forensic and clinical situations. This type of “structured professional judgment” approach can be useful in gathering research data, assisting with evaluations of sex offenders, and giving information to help in making forensic decisions. The SVR-20 is a formalized research-guided approach to risk assessment, utilized to predict the probability of reoffense sexual violence in the future. This guided assessment based on empirical data is a significant step in developing a comprehensive, empirically based risk assessment procedure in the field of sexual violence.