An exploratory validation study of a risk assessment tool for male sex offenders with an intellectual disability.

Section A: The aim of this paper was to review and provide a summary of the empirical and theoretical literature on risk assessment, recidivism and theories of offending in relation to intellectually disabled (ID) sex offenders. This work is still in its infancy when compared with the non-intellectually disabled sex offending and risk assessment research and it was therefore important to include an overview of the general sex offending literature, to establish how this relates to the more recent developments in the study of ID sex offenders.
Section B is an exploratory validation study using a longitudinal cohort design. The purpose of the study was to explore the criterion validity of the ARMIDILO-S (Assessment of Risk and Manageability of Intellectually Disabled Individuals who Offend - Sexually) risk assessment tool. The study investigated the tool by using it with a clinical population of adult men with an intellectual disability, who had taken part in sex offender group treatment, due to their sex offending behaviour.
Section C is a critical appraisal of the process of undertaking this research. It is a reflective and critical account of what skills and lessons the author has learnt, what could have been done differently, and how it might affect clinical work and future research.