Protective factors for sexual offending: the value of the SAPROF-SO additional factors for clinical practice

Purpose The Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for violence risk (SAPROF) is widely used in forensic risk assessment practice. The tool is studied extensively and shows good reliability and predictive validity: the presence of more protective factors leads to less recidivism, also regarding sexual violence. To enhance its usefulness in sexual offense interventions, the SAPROF-Sexual Offending (SAPROF-SO) was developed as addition to the original SAPROF. The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of this addition. Design/methodology/approach This study examined the predictive validity of the SAPROF-SO protective factors for the absence of inpatient aggression, alongside the original SAPROF and sexual violence risk-focused tools: Static-99R and STABLE-2007. Moreover, user experiences with SAPROF-SO were evaluated. Sixty-three assessments were conducted in Belgian medium-secure forensic hospital units for individuals with intellectual disabilities who committed sexual offenses. Findings The SAPROF predicted well for inpatient aggression, while SAPROF-SO factors and risk-focused tools showed mixed results. No instrument, including final judgments based on overall assessment, specifically predicted inpatient sexual aggression. However, clinicians stated the SAPROF-SO provided valuable novel insights. Research limitations/implications The inpatient sexual aggression outcome measure appeared insufficient as sexual violence measure, raising questions about its usefulness for predictive validity analysis. Despite difficulties in evaluating sexual thoughts and behaviors in the inpatient context, clinicians emphasized the added clinical value of SAPROF-SO factors. Practical implications Findings highlight the importance of refining SO-assessment guidelines and call for further research on protective factors in sexual violence prevention. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to offer an insight regarding the validity and practical usefulness of the SAPROF-SO for forensic practice.