What clinicians need to know before assessing risk in sexual offenders † rajan

†This is the first of two articles in Advances by Rajan Darjee and Katharine Russell that discuss the clinical assessment and management of risk in sexual offenders. The next will appear in the January 2013 issue. Rarely a week goes by without a media story about the dangers posed by sexual offenders; no other group is subject to the same degree of societal fear, hatred and disgust, and these dominate political debate. Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals are not immune from such influences. Although it may be difficult to remain unaffected by our own anxieties and moral judgement, and by societal pressure and political sensitivities, the primary task when working with someone who poses a risk of sexual offending is to use clinical skills and research evidence to understand the individual, objectively assess risk and develop a plan that mitigates this while helping the individual to function prosocially. The good news for clinicians is that there is research evidence as well clinical experience and guidance that can help with this. In this article and its companion, we aim to help practitioners set up the pragmatic and evidencebased approach which our service has been using for over 5 years to inform the management of sexual offenders in the community. First, we will focus on the information clinicians need to know about sexual offenders before they assess risk and plan risk management. In the next article, we will discuss how to assess risk and develop a risk manage ment plan. Our main focus will be adult males. Although most sexual offenders are male, there is increasing recognition of female perpetrators (Gannon 2010), and a significant minority of sexual offences are committed by children and adolescents (Poortinga 2009). Space does not allow us to cover these groups in detail here, and it is important to note that approaches used for men should not be used for women or young people.