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Evaluating Sex Offender Recidivism – An Attorney’s PerspectiveJoan Van Pelt, Attorney-at-Law, Plainfield, USA (jdvanpelt@gmail.com)Over the past 2 decades, the number of jurisdictions which impose post-incarceration restrictionson convicted sex offenders has burgeoned across the United States and in other countries.Registration is the norm. It is often accompanied by restrictions on where the offender can live,work or spend his time. In the more extreme cases, 20 states and the federal government havestatutes which permit civil detention as sexually predators. This detention may be in essence alife sentence. With these statutes there has been created growing areas of practice in both mentalhealth and law. The number of clinicians – both psychiatrists and psychologists – who specializein sex offender evaluations has increased dramatically during this time. These mental healthprofessionals evaluate, testify and write for publication relating to the best or most accurate wayof assessing which convicted sex offenders are likely to reoffend. At the same time, law schoolsnow offer courses to train young lawyers in representing sex offenders facing registration or civilcommitment proceedings. As advocates, rather than neutral evaluators, lawyers have asignificantly different perspective regarding the efficacy of sex offender assessments. This paperevaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods of sex offender risk assessmentfrom the perspective of a lawyer representing clients before both judges and juries in sexoffender civil commitment proceedings.124. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)Review of the Current State of Knowledge of Comorbid mTBI and PTSD inNATO Military Personnel who Served in Iraq and AfghanistanAlexander E. Obolsky, Northwestern University (a-obolsky@northwestern.edu)Comorbid mTBI and PTSD has affected significant numbers of the NATO soldiers who haveserved in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. The comorbidity of mTBI and PTSDhave confounded physicians and researchers since well before the current military conflicts, butit is not until now that a large population of affected individuals that require proper assessmentand treatment, has made the scientific and clinical understanding of this elusive phenomenon anurgent necessity. This confluence of factors is bringing forth concerted and well-funded effort tostudy the phenomenon. This presentation will provide an overview of the current understandingof the prevalence, incidence, phenomenology, assessment, differential diagnosis, treatments, andprognosis of the comorbid mTBI and PTSD. The probable etiologies of this comorbidity will bereviewed. Finally the implications for clinical practice and forensic import of the new insightsinto the mTBI/PTSD comorbidity in civil litigation will be identified.294