Recidivism Risk and Criminogenic Needs of Individuals Who Perpetrated Intimate Partner Sexual Violence Offenses

Authors

  • Brandon Sparks
    Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
  • Farron Wielinga
    Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
  • Sandy Jung
    Department of Psychology, MacEwan University, Edmonton, AB, Canada
  • Mark E. Olver
    Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Abstract

Despite the common occurrence of sexual violence in intimate partner violence (IPV) and its association with increased risk of intimate partner homicide, intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) is often overlooked in the literature. As a result, little is known about risk factors that may be unique to IPSV perpetrators. The present study utilizes a police-reported sample to compare the risk/need profiles of 36 IPSV and 36 IPV perpetrators by creating theoretically meaningful risk composites as proxies for a number of the central eight risk/need areas posited by Andrews and Bonta (2010, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018362). Results indicate that the risk/need profiles of the IPSV group are more severe than the IPV group, with higher scores in measures of substance abuse, relationship instability, sexual aggression, and mental health concerns. Potential implications for IPSV assessment and intervention at the level of policing and correctional programming are discussed, including the need for higher intensity treatments and the treatment of non-criminogenic needs.