Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol 30(4), Nov 2024, 375-389; doi:10.1037/law0000434
Individuals convicted of sexually violent offenses with mental disorders that make it more likely than not that they would reoffend sexually if released to the community qualify for indefinite, involuntary civil commitment as sexually violent persons (SVPs) in Wisconsin. This study assessed recidivism among residents dismissed or discharged from SVP commitments. Comparisons of 144 dismissed, 236 discharged, 274 individuals living under civil commitment, and 51 individuals who died while committed under Wisconsin’s SVP program found a variety of sociodemographic and clinical differences between the groups. Sexual recidivism rates of 121 dismissed and 124 discharged individuals with five or more years of follow-up after release did not significantly differ from one another. The fixed 5-year recidivism rate for sexually violent offenses was 11.8% and 14.7% over a variable follow-up mean of 14.5 years. Recidivism rates for combined violent or nonviolent sexual offenses were 12.7% over a fixed 5-year follow-up, and 17.1% over the average variable follow-up period of 14.5 years. Static-99R scores at dismissal/discharge did not discriminate recidivists from nonrecidivists. The Static-99R Routine sample norms were better calibrated for predicting the expected number of sexual recidivists over 5 and 10 years after release. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)