Assessment of sexual deviance by forensic psychiatrists

The article reviews the legal changes in dealing with sexual offenders in Germany during the last ten years. The developments described are in many respects comparable to other countries of Northern and Western Europe and to Austria. The laws, which regulate the penal aspects for sexual deviance, have been drastically tightened up. Publicist, political and public pressure against perpetrators and their advocates has massively grown; the number of committals in special institutions has dramatically increased. On the other hand the handling of these individuals by forensic psychiatrists has become much more professional. Standards for the assessment of culpability have been established, the treatment facilities have been largely extended, instruments for risk assessment and the prediction of recidivism have been developed and validated for German speaking countries. With respect to the political consideration to coercive treatment and for tightened and prolonged security measures for all sexual perpetrators professionals have to emphasize that sexual deviant individuals have to be differentiated, not only regarding their crimes and their personality but also regarding their potential to profit from treatment and their probability for recidivism.