Theoretical and practical issues for the measurement of protective factors

- Incorporating protective factors into current measures of risk and needs could improve accuracy and utility, however there are a number of conceptual and practical issues that first need to be resolved.
- There are important issues with the construct validity of protective factors that results from our current methodologies used to identify them. Resolving this issue would require a shift to a larger focus on theory, mechanisms and etiology, and using these to guide identification of important factors.
- Protective factors are increasingly being incorporated into measures, however there have been mixed findings as to the accuracy and strength of these measures. There are also a number of groups for whom the research is relatively scant, including sexual offenders.

Although research into the theoretical and practical implications of protective factors within a rehabilitative context is still in its infancy, it is possible that they can provide improvements in a number of key areas related to offender management and treatment. However, there are several important issues that must be considered and resolved for the measurement of protective factors to be regarded as valid and reliable. Some of these relate to core questions regarding the nature of protective factors, including how to best clarify current conceptualisations of protective factors and questions regarding our current approach to the identification and validation of protective factors. We additionally discuss more practical issues related to the incorporation of protective factors into current risk assessment methodologies, including implications that this will have for the scoring of actuarial tools. We hope that raising awareness of these issues results in fruitful directions for further discussions and research in this area.