The Source for Crime and Justice Data

Description & Citation--Study No. 8985

Bibliographic Description

Study No.:

08985

Title:

Dangerous Sex Offenders: Classifying, Predicting, and Evaluating Outcomes of Clinical Treatment in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, 1982-1985

Principal Investigator(s):

Prentky, Robert

Knight, Raymond

Funding:

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (NIJ 82-IJ-CX-0058)

Bibliographic Citation:

Prentky, Robert, and Raymond Knight. DANGEROUS SEX OFFENDERS: CLASSIFYING, PREDICTING, AND EVALUATING OUTCOMES OF CLINICAL TREATMENT IN BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS, 1982-1985. 2nd ICPSR version. Boston, MA: Boston University [producer], 1985. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2000. doi:10.3886/ICPSR08985.v2

Scope of Study

Summary:

The purpose of this data collection was to validate two classification systems, one for rapists and one for child molesters, used in a Massachusetts treatment center for sexually aggressive offenders. Rapists and child molesters were classified as two types of sex offenders and then clinically classified into subtypes based on criteria for the two taxonomies being tested. Variables include type of traffic offenses, criminal offenses, and sex offenses charged. Data on disposition of cases are also provided, along with parole and discharge information. Offenders' post-release offenses were categorized into traffic offenses, nontraffic offenses, and sex offenses.

Subject Terms:

crime prediction, offender profiles, program evaluation, sex offender profiles, sex offenders, sex offenses, treatment facilities, treatment outcomes

Geographic Coverage:

Bridgewater, Massachusetts, United States

Time Period:
  • 1982--1985

Date of Collection:
  • 1982--1985

Universe:

All sex offender cases referred to a treatment center in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, for intensive observation and then released.

Data Types:

clinical data

Data Collection Notes:

The codebook and data collection instrument for this collection are provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Website.

Methodology

Sample:

Of the 1,500 sex offender cases that were referred to a treatment center in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, for intensive observation during 1982-1985, 500 were committed and became treatment patients. Of these patients, 270 were released after varying lengths of treatment and were selected as the sample in the study.

Data Source:

Records from a Bridgewater, Massachusetts, treatment center for sexually aggressive offenders, FBI records, Department of Corrections records, and public safety records

Access and Availability

Note:

Detailed file-level information (such as record length, case count, and variable count) is listed in the file manifest.

Original ICPSR Release:

1989-01-10

Version History:

  • 2005-11-04 On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable, and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to reflect these additions.

  • 2000-10-05 SAS and SPSS data definition statements have been added to this collection. The data were reformatted to change the date variables from SPSS stored format to a month and year format that is not specific to any statistical package. A revised codebook, including a data completeness report, was created for the reformatted data file and original hardcopy documentation from the principal investigators was converted to PDF.