By Tom Stewart, MA, LLP
Treating or supervising adults with sexual behavior problems inherently forces professionals to face difficult questions. These are emotionally charged questions that likely will have a profound impact on others. Questions like:
- Is it possible to serve probation at home if a child is living there?
- How does one with sexual behavior problems reunite with a supportive family in a safe
and responsible manner? - Is a father with prior convictions of viewing child pornography a risk to molest his own
children? - Can a parolee attend family functions where minor relatives are present?
Robert McGrath has co-authored a tool that can assist with these questions and MI-ATSA had the privilege of “virtually hosting” his presentation of the Risk of Sexual Abuse of Children (ROSAC). For those unfamiliar with this tool, the ROSAC is a structured professional guide designed to help professionals assess the risk an adult male sexual abuser poses to a particular child and to offer guidance under what circumstances, if any, the abuser might safely be allowed contact with the child.
Mr. McGrath’s work on the ROSAC began in response to a rather high-profile case that involved the rape and murder of a child. He found there was very little research regarding specific offender-child contact situations. The tools available addressed the question, “What is the likelihood that this person who previously committed a sexual offense is going to reoffend
against any person?” The ROSAC attempts to answer, “What is the likelihood that this person who previously committed a sexual offense is going to reoffend against a specific person?” The ROSAC begins with 19 static (actuarially-based predictions) and stable (changeable and dynamic) risk factors that are specific to the “abuser” at the time of the evaluation. What makes it unique, is the inclusion of factors related to a specific child as well as characteristics of the primary caregivers for that child.
Throughout his presentation, Mr. McGrath highlighted the complexity of human behavior and the volume of information required to assess risk. He presented the ROSAC as a checklist of sorts that assists with gathering this information and formulating an opinion. When used correctly,
one will have a thorough and concise representation of all the factors relevant to decisions regarding offender-child contact. The ROSAC should be in the “toolbox” of every supervising agent or clinician involved in making these decisions. It is published by Safer Society Press and can be purchased through the following link: https://safersocietypress.org/store/risk-of-sexual-
abuse-of-children/