Applications open for pilot of internet offending assessment framework
Assessing the risk of individuals convicted of internet offences can be a challenging and complex task. This year, the RMA formed and chaired a multi-agency working group to support the development of a framework for assessing those convicted of offences relating to indecent images of children (IIOC). The working group, included representatives from Scottish Government, Police Scotland, Justice Social Work, Forensic Network and academia.
The framework includes the use of the Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (C-PORT) and the Correlates of Admitted Sexual Interest in Children (CASIC) (Seto & Eke, 2016) as a method of assessing the risk presented by individuals convicted of internet offences. The pilot will look at the reliability and validity of the framework, and examine the usefulness for practitioners. Participating Local Authorities will provide data to enable RMA to carry out further research to determine whether the framework would be suitable for national implementation.
The Pilot scheme is open to Social Work Services within Local Authorities only. The application form to participate has been circulated to Service Managers across Scotland via the Social Work Standing Committee. For interested parties, RMA are hosting an virtual information session with Q&A on Friday 8th October.