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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this study by Becker et al. was to examine the characteristics of adolescent sexual offenders who were participating in a supervised community-based treatment program.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors employed a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design with a non-probability sample of 67 adolescent males between the ages of 13 and 19 who had been charged with or convicted of a sexual offense. All subjects had been referred to the Sexual Behavior Clinic for outpatient evaluation and treatment, and all participated in the study only after informed consent was given by both the subject and his parent(s). A psychologist conducted a structured clinical interview of each subject, obtaining information regarding sexual history - both deviant and nondeviant completed and attempted acts - as well as criminal history and demographic and family characteristics. Self-reported sexual offenses were divided into a number of categorical definitions: pedophiles were defined as those subjects whose victims (of hands-on sexual behavior) were more than five years younger than themselves; pedophiles were then divided by age of victim (9 to 12 or 8 and under), sex of victim, and relationship to victim (whether the victim was a relative, resulting in incest). Rapists were subjects whose victims (of forced sexual contact or penetration) were fewer than five years younger than them, and were also divided according to age of victim (adult, peer or 9 to 12 years of age), sex of victim, and relationship of the offender to the victim (whether the victim was a relative, resulting in incest). Consensual incest was defined as a sexual act with a consenting relative, with these offenders again divided according to age and sex of the relative. Subjects who rubbed themselves against someone, or who touched someone, usually in a crowd and fully clothed, were classified as frotteurs, and were also divided by age and sex of victim. Offenders who watched others through windows for sexual pleasure were considered voyeurs, and those who exposed their buttocks in public were labeled as mooners. Both were further divided by age and sex of target. Analysis involved examination of frequencies.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The authors began with an examination of the demographic and family characteristics of the offenders. The mean age of the subjects was 15.5 years, with 12% of the sample being Caucasian, 63% black and 25% Hispanic. About one-third were referred by probation officers, and about 22% were referred by the courts. Almost half of the subjects were on probation at the time of the referral, with over one-quarter being presentence. At the time of the evaluation, 36% lived with their mothers, 32% lived with both parents and 12% lived in a group home. The remaining subjects lived with legal guardians, fathers or grandmothers, or in some type of detention home. 97% of the subjects had never been hospitalized for a psychiatric illness, and 88% reported that no family member had ever been in hospital for such problems; 4.5% of the subjects had at least one family member who had been hospitalized. Examining prior arrests for nonsexual crimes, 72% reported never having committed a nonsexual crime, 9% reported having been involved in a robbery, 6% reported having committed burglary, 3% were involved in drug-related offenses, 3% in car theft or petty theft, 4.5% had trespassed and 3% had been involved in graffiti crimes. As 31% of the subjects denied any involvement in the crime, official records were used to supply information about the relevant variables. Reports of previous arrests for sexual crimes showed that 10.4% had never been arrested, 79% had been arrested once, 7.5% twice and 3% three times or more. Of those arrested, 49% spent no time incarcerated, and 25% were incarcerated for less than one week. Only 10% were incarcerated for more than one year. 41 of the offenders (63%) were classified as pedophiles, with most of the victims being female, under the age of 8 and unrelated to the offender. An aggression rating measuring amount of force used found that the most adolescents used physical coercion to commit the crime, and that for all categories of sexual offenders, the greatest amount of force was used against female victims who were adults or of the same age as the offender. This finding was thought to be due to the fact that older victims would be more likely to resist the attack. 17 of the subjects were categorized as rapists, whose victims were primarily female, and who used excessive amounts of physical coercion to commit the crime. Two of the subjects had engaged in consensual incest with female relatives aged 9 to 12 years, 4 had engaged in frottage, 2 in voyeurism and 1 in mooning. Nondeviant sexual histories (nondeviant being defined as noncoercive sexual interaction with a nonrelated peer) were also examined, and it was found that 25% of the subjects had learned about sexuality from sex education classes in school, 19% from personal experience,18% from friends, 13% from the media, 12% from siblings, 6% from parents, 1.5% from observation of others and 4.5% from other sources. 82% of the subjects had engaged in nondeviant, nongenital sexual behavior, and 58% had engaged in nondeviant, genital sexual behavior. 88% of the subjects rated themselves as exclusively heterosexual on the Kinsey Rating Scale, with 1.5% rating themselves as bisexual. 16.4% of the subjects had been physically abused as children, and 17.9% had been sexually abused.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors suggested that the juvenile sexual offender is in need of treatment to prevent further development of deviant sexual interests in adulthood. Through early intervention, the adolescent can learn to control his deviant sexual impulses and help him become a better functioning member of the community. The authors also suggested that future research be directed towards examining the etiology of deviant sexual interests in adolescents, to the development of offender typologies, to assessing the role of the family in the development and maintenance of deviant sexual interests, and to the development and evaluation of treatment interventions for this group.
EVALUATION:
The authors present an interesting and informative examination of the characteristics of the juvenile sexual offender. However, the small sample size, and the reliance upon self-report data, suggest that the results be interpreted with some caution. The use of data obtained from a first-time, clinical interview suggests that subjects might not have had full trust in the interviewing process, and might therefore have not confided fully in the interviewer, resulting in data that are therefore not wholly accurate. Despite these drawbacks, the significant finding that many adolescents were participating in continued deviant sexual activity, and the implications of this finding for treatment and intervention planning, suggest that this study be used as a basis for both future research and for intervention policies. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Offender Characteristics
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Sexual Assault Offender
KW - Treatment Program
KW - Demographic Characteristics
KW - Family Characteristics
KW - Juvenile Treatment
KW - Sexual Assault Treatment
KW - Offender Treatment
KW - Early Adolescence
KW - Late Adolescence
KW - Child Molester
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Offender
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Treatment
KW - Rape Offender
KW - Rape Treatment
KW - Violence Against Women |