Author Description

This report reviews the literature on classification for sex offenders, describes the various systems, identifies the category it belongs to, and explains their basis and the nature of the population for which it was developed. A table compares eight of the systems for ease of use, reliability, homogeneity, coverage and sophistication: Schlank, Beech (child molesters), Psychiatric, Knight & Prentky (child molesters); Knight & Prentky (rape); RAPID, Forensic Psychiatric Service; MacHovec & Wieckowski (1992). The report concludes that none of the schemes can be applied by criminal justice workers at the present time. They are complex, require considerable data, do not cover the entire sex offender population, have a variety of objectives, and have not been tested for reliability.