Sexually Harmful Behaviours Research Lab
Risk assessment and change
Improving the accuracy, fairness, interpretation, and practical use of assessment tools for sexually harmful behaviour.
Why this research matters
Moving evidence into fairer assessment and better decisions
We conduct research to improve the accuracy, fairness, and practical use of risk assessment. A central goal is to translate new evidence into updated tools, training materials, reassessment practices, and correctional decision-making.
Research program
How we improve assessment
Assessment tools
Dr. Babchishin is a co-author of the Static-99R, Static-2002R, and BARR-2002R and serves on the committee of the Society for the Advancement of Actuarial Risk Need Assessment.
Fairness and decision-making
We examine racial and ethnic bias in assessment, expert recommendations, and release decisions involving people assessed as presenting a high risk to reoffend.
Applied prevention settings
With Ontario鈥檚 College of Early Childhood Educators, we study ecological features鈥攕uch as visibility and supervision鈥攖hat may influence the risk of professional misconduct.
Current focus
A five-year SSHRC Insight Grant supports research on racial and ethnic bias in risk assessment, expert recommendations, and release decisions. A Mitacs Accelerate partnership examines environmental features associated with misconduct risk in early childhood education settings.
Recent and foundational work
Selected publications
Risk to reoffend changes over time
Babchishin, K. M., Hanson, R. K., & Lee, S. C. (2024). Psychological Assessment, 36(10), 595鈥�605.
Missing item data and predictive accuracy
Perley-Robertson, B., Babchishin, K. M., & Helmus, L. M. (2024). Assessment.
Dynamic risk scales degrade over time
Lee, S. C., Babchishin, K. M., Mularczyk, K. P., & Hanson, R. K. (2024). Assessment, 31(3), 698鈥�714.
Assessment tools represented in our work
Static-99R鈥� Static-2002R鈥� BARR-2002R鈥� STABLE-2007鈥� ACUTE-2007鈥� CPORT
Support for this research
Funding partners
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Public Safety Canada
Mitacs
Interested in research collaboration?
We welcome conversations about data partnerships, applied research, knowledge exchange, and new research questions.