Pathways to sexual offending. Development of a rating scale for offending dynamics (Part 2)

In the second part of our talk, the construction process of our newly developed rating scale will be explained in more detail. In this context, first the shortcomings of already existing item/indicator lists will be addressed. Thus, our goal was to develop a structured and reliable assessment tool, which can be rated based on file information and which is meant to be used mainly for research purposes, however, which can be of some value for clinicians and practitioners as well. To address this goal, in a first step we invited 14 Experts in the field to rate how unambiguous and assessable the first draft of our items and itemdescriptions were. We then adjusted the scale accordingly. A first version of the assessment tool is presented. A valid and reliable assessment of offense dynamics allows us to describe the heterogeneous group of sexual offenders in a more nuanced way, which is an important basis for many research questions. In therapeutic contexts it can also be helpful to sensitize clinicians for the individual‘s criminogenic needs and risk factors in order to derive adequate therapeutic methods and goals.