Demonstrating the Reliability and Validity of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire for Assessing Violent and Nonviolent Recidivism with Female Offenders in South Africa

• Published date: 01 September 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10575677221126951
• Author: Anni Hesselink,Johan Prinsloo
• Date: 01 September 2023
• Subject Matter: Original Articles

Demonstrating the Reliability

and Validity of the Self-

Appraisal Questionnaire

for Assessing Violent and

Nonviolent Recidivism

with Female Offenders

in South Africa

Anni Hesselink

1

and Johan Prinsloo

1

Abstract

Explanations regarding the involvement of females in crime, justice, and punishment in South Africa

are primarily based on the experiences of male offenders with little knowledge about the crimino-

genic offender assessment of female offenders. The Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) is an actu-

arial measure designed for the identif‌ication of offenders’static and dynamic risk factors and

criminogenic needs that may increase or diminish their risk upon release. This study involves a sam-

ple of 284 female offenders incarcerated in three inter-provincial correctional centers in South

Africa. The goal of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the SAQ in relation

to its reliability, validity, and potential use as part of the criminogenic assessment of female offend-

ers, within the multicultural South African context. Research results indicated that the SAQ is reli-

able and valid to use with South African offenders.

Keywords

self-appraisal questionnaire (SAQ), reliability, validity, female offenders, criminogenic assessment

Introduction

Although a global increase in the incarcerated women population has been reported (Parry, 2019),

Dastile (2010) asserts that female offenders in South Africa represent the fastest growing group of

offenders. The number of women incarcerated in South Africa increased by 68% over the past

decade (Prinsloo & Hesselink, 2015). Over a period of 6 years and based upon known statistics

for the period from 2014/2015 to 2019/2020, an average of approximately 2915 sentenced women

1

Department of Criminology and Security Science, University of South Africa (UNISA), South Africa

Corresponding Author:

Johan Prinsloo, Department of Criminology and Security Science, University of South Africa (UNISA), South Africa.

Email: prinsjh@unisa.ac.za

Original Article

International Criminal Justice Review

2023, Vol. 33(3) 302-312

© 2022 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/10575677221126951

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