Resources
Guidance, frameworks, and further reading
A curated collection of resources for practitioners, commissioners, and others working in the field of sexual risk, child protection, and criminal justice. These are the frameworks, tools, and bodies of evidence that inform my practice.
Assessment tools
Risk Assessment Frameworks
The structured professional judgement tools and actuarial instruments that underpin rigorous, evidence-based risk assessment in sexual offending and harmful sexual behaviour.
RSVP2 (Risk for Sexual Violence Protocol)
Assessment toolA structured professional judgement guide for the assessment and management of risk for sexual violence. Covers 22 risk factors across five domains and supports comprehensive case formulation.
Static-99R and RM-2000
Assessment toolsWidely used actuarial tools for estimating the probability of sexual and violent recidivism in adult males convicted of sexual offences. Both provide a standardised baseline for risk categorisation and are commonly used alongside structured professional judgement approaches.
Stable-2007
Assessment toolA dynamic risk assessment tool that measures stable risk factors — relatively enduring psychological characteristics associated with sexual reoffending. Can be used alongside Static-99R and RM-2000 to provide a more complete picture of ongoing risk and treatment need.
AIM3 (Assessment, Intervention and Moving On)
Assessment frameworkThe leading framework for assessing and managing harmful sexual behaviour in children and young people. Widely used across child protection and youth justice services in the UK.
Structured Assessment of Protective Factors (SAPROF)
Assessment toolA tool for the structured assessment of protective factors for violence risk. Complements risk-focused instruments by identifying strengths and resources that reduce the likelihood of reoffending.
Intervention models
Therapeutic Approaches
The evidence-based therapeutic models and intervention frameworks that inform my direct work with individuals who present a sexual risk and with the families around them.
Good Lives Model (GLM)
Rehabilitation frameworkA strengths-based rehabilitation framework developed by Tony Ward. The GLM focuses on helping individuals build a fulfilling life that does not involve offending, rather than solely targeting risk reduction.
Schema Therapy
Therapeutic modalityAn integrative psychotherapeutic approach that addresses deeply held patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving rooted in early adverse experiences. Particularly relevant for individuals with complex trauma histories.
Motivational Interviewing (MI)
Therapeutic modalityA collaborative, person-centred counselling style for eliciting and strengthening motivation for change. Widely evidenced in work with individuals who are ambivalent about addressing harmful behaviour.
Trauma-Informed Practice
Practice frameworkAn approach that recognises the widespread impact of trauma and integrates knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practice. Foundational to compassionate, effective work in this field.
Narrative Work and Attachment — Morrison & Baim
Therapeutic approachMorrison and Baim's work integrates narrative approaches with attachment theory to support meaningful change in people who have caused harm. Their approach attends to the stories individuals hold about themselves and their relationships, using the therapeutic relationship as a vehicle for developing more secure, coherent self-narratives.
Key texts
Further Reading
Influential books and publications that have shaped thinking in sexual risk, trauma-informed practice, and evidence-based social work. A starting point for practitioners wanting to deepen their knowledge.
Treating Sexual Offenders — William Marshall et al.
BookA comprehensive and evidence-based guide to the treatment of sexual offenders. Covers assessment, intervention design, therapeutic approaches, and outcome research.
The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel van der Kolk
BookA landmark text on the impact of trauma on the body and mind. Essential background reading for practitioners seeking to understand the trauma histories that so often underlie harmful behaviour.
Human Dignity and the Good Lives Model — Tony Ward
BookWard's work on human dignity in criminal justice argues that rehabilitation must be grounded in respect for the inherent worth of every person, including those who have caused harm. His framework challenges purely risk-focused approaches and places the pursuit of a meaningful, dignified life at the centre of effective intervention.
Risk Need Responsivity Model — Andrews & Bonta
Research modelThe foundational model for offender rehabilitation, identifying the principles of risk, need, and responsivity as the basis for effective intervention. Widely applied in criminal justice and child protection settings.
In a Different Voice — Carol Gilligan
BookGilligan's landmark work introducing the ethics of care — a moral framework centred on relationships, context, and responsibility rather than abstract rules. Profoundly influential in social work, feminist ethics, and relational approaches to practice.
We Will Tell Our Own Story — Bayo Akomolafe
BookAkomolafe's writing challenges linear, solution-focused thinking and invites practitioners to sit with complexity, uncertainty, and the unexpected. His post-humanist, decolonial perspective offers a powerful counterpoint to risk-management frameworks and informs a more humble, relational approach to practice.
Managing Sexual Offenders in the Community — Jackie Craissati
BookA highly practical and theoretically grounded text on the community management of sexual offenders. Craissati draws on attachment theory and empirical research to examine risk, treatment, and the relational dynamics of working with this client group — essential reading for practitioners in probation, social work, and forensic settings.
Questions about my approach or methods?
If you would like to discuss the frameworks and tools I use, or how they inform a specific piece of work, I am happy to talk it through. Get in touch to arrange a conversation.