Overview for Examining the RNR Interpretive Examples

This folder (Interpreting the MIDSA / RNR Domains) contains examples of client responses to the seven Risk/Needs/Responsivity (RNR) domains that are covered in the MIDSA. Each domain example presents real data of an adult who has been incarcerated for sexual aggression. Each domain example presents data on a different respondent.  After each subcomponent of a domain is exemplified, a brief interpretation for that subcomponent is provided in red font.

Note: In these interpretations “ACC” refers to the Adult Community Control group and “ASO” refers to the Adults who have Sexually Offended comparison group.

After all the subcomponents for a particular domain have been presented and interpreted, an interpretive overview of the entire domain for the respondent is provided in red font. In the interpretations the percentile for the ACC comparison is given as an aid to interpreting the T-Score, because the percent of ACCs below the respondent’s score is easier for some to understand.

Client’s scores on most scales are displayed as T-Scores, normed relative to the community control group (ACCs). Superimposed on the respondent’s T-Score scale is a box-and-whiskers plot that depicts the responses of a comparison group of adults who have sexually offended (ASOs). In the boxes on the left side of the scale the respondent’s T-Score (normed on the ACCs) and his associated percentile relative to the ASOs (that is the percent of the ASOs scoring lower than the respondent) are displayed. The respondent’s score, which is displayed as a red ball, can thus be compared both to the ACCs (T-Score distribution) and to male ASOs (percentile and the respondent’s position relative to the box and whiskers plot). For example, if the red ball is above the right edge of the right whisker, he is at the 90th percentile relative to ASOs. Thus, the scale figure displays the respondent’s score relative to both the community sample and to adults who have sexually offended. This scale structure is fully explained here.

The MIDSA report provides a significant amount of both historical and psychometric data for each RNR treatment domain. To help navigate the information, we provide a guide at the beginning of each report. To use this interpretive aid, go to the “Table of Contents” at the beginning of the report. In “Guide for creating treatment plans” the third option is “Risk-Needs-Responsivity Treatment.”  Click on this hyperlink (in blue font), and you will be taken to the “Risk-Needs-Responsivity” pages. These pages present the seven RNR treatment domains and within each domain present hyperlinks for all the relevant subcomponents of information in the MIDSA for that domain. When you click on the blue hyperlinks within a domain, you are taken to the relevant information for this subcomponent in the MIDSA Report. The interpretive examples for each of the seven RNR domains provided in the examples in this section follow the order of the subcomponents in the RNR guide.

The RNR treatment domain can be used in multiple ways.  One can start at the top (Sexual Age Preferences) and work one’s way sequentially through all the domains for a thorough evaluation of a respondent. Alternatively, one can go directly to a specific domain that has emerged in prior assessments as a potential problematic domain to examine the information that has emerged in the MIDSA about this domain.