Juvenile Sex Offenders (juvenile + sex_offender)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Juvenile sex offenders and institutional misconduct: the role of thought psychopathology

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 5 2008
Matt Delisi
Background,Little is known about the institutional behaviour of incarcerated sex offenders. Aim,To study the relationships between juvenile sex offending, thought psychopathology and institutional misconduct. Method,We applied negative binomial regression and Area Under Curve Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUC-ROC) analyses to self-report and records data from institutionalised delinquents (N = 813) committed to the California Youth Authority to explore the links between sex offending and institutional misconduct, controlling for offender demographics, institution, index offence, and self-reported and official criminal history. Results,Juvenile sex offending was associated with six forms of institutional misconduct (sexual, general and total misconduct as reviewed by parole board) over 12 and 24 months prior to rating. Two measures of thought psychopathology, which were related to psychosis-like thought, were significantly associated with juvenile sex offender status. These constructs did not, however, mediate the independent predictive effects of adolescent sex offending on institutional misconduct. Conclusion,Interventions to help incarcerated young offenders are likely to be particularly important for those with a sex offending history as they are otherwise likely to persist with antisocial behaviours of all kinds within and beyond the institution. Attention to their thought processes may be particularly useful. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Psychological mechanisms underlying support for juvenile sex offender registry laws: prototypes, moral outrage, and perceived threat,

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 1 2010
Jessica M. Salerno M.A.
In three studies, we investigated support for applying sex offender registry laws to juveniles. Family law attorneys supported registry laws less for juveniles than for adults. Laypeople and prosecutors supported juvenile and adult sex offender registration equally,even though they perceived juveniles as generally less threatening than adults (Study 1),because most people spontaneously envision a severe sex offender prototype regardless of offender age (Study 2). People are less supportive of registry laws, however, when they envision less severe prototypes spontaneously (Study 2) or when induced to do so (Study 3). Effects of offender age, offender prototypes, and offense severity were mediated by perceptions of threat posed by the juvenile sex offender (i.e., utilitarian concerns). The effect of offense severity was also mediated by moral outrage (i.e., retributive concerns). Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Juvenile sexual delinquents: contrasting child abusers with peer abusers

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2004
J. Hendriks MA
Background There is growing concern regarding juvenile sex offenders, and concomitant interest in a more scientific database which could help direct management and treatment resources. Aims To investigate whether juveniles who sexually offend against children (or those at least five years younger than themselves) differ from those who sexually assault their peers or older victims. Method The study is based on data from psychological screenings conducted for the juvenile courts in the Netherlands. Results As hypothesized, juvenile child molesters scored higher on neuroticism, had experienced more social problems, and had been bullied more often at school than their peers who sexually assaulted same-age or older victims. Child molesters also reported a more negative self-image. When referred for screening, they were younger but had committed more sex offences, more often against males than females. Conclusions The results were suggestive of greater need for psychological interventions in the child molester group, although in both groups substantial minorities had had experience of early childhood deprivation or abuse. Copyright © 2004 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source]


New Hope and Help for Forgotten Youth

JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIC NURSING, Issue 2 2009
APRN/PMH, Rita Gill MS
TOPIC: Juvenile sex offender treatment programs have been at the forefront of discussion among some policy-makers and certainly those who provide treatment for these youth. While the research in this area supports the use of community-based treatment strategies, clinicians with strong training background are rare. PURPOSE: There is a need for a certificate training program to develop clinicians who are specifically trained to treat juvenile sex offenders. Through a unique academic/community initiative providing a multimodal approach to treatment, a collaborative 2-day national conference related to treatment of juvenile sex offenders was established. The program core was a 9-month clinical treatment certificate training program. This article describes the community program, and outlines in detail its purpose, goals, trainee requirements, conceptual areas for competency development, and the content areas. CONCLUSIONS: The Mental Health Policy Institute for Leadership and Training of Baltimore and the School of Nursing of the University Maryland jointly recognized a need to address the quality and efficacy of community-based treatment and expand the number of trained clinicians to work with sex offending youth. As a result of positive program evaluations, this community program will be provided annually. [source]


Examining the Sexual Offenses of Female Juveniles: The Relevance of Childhood Maltreatment

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 4 2008
Dominique Roe-Sepowitz MSW
Research on female juvenile sex offenders is limited by small clinical samples. Little is known about the characteristics of female sexual offending and how it is related to child maltreatment. This study examines data from the case histories of 118 female juvenile sex offenders. In contrast to portrayals in previous research, this study shows that female sex offenders are not a homogeneous group. Findings also included differentiation between female juvenile sexual offenders with a history of child maltreatment and those without a history of child maltreatment. Female juvenile sex offenders who had a history of child maltreatment were more likely to have a current mental health diagnosis and experience clinical levels of anger-irritability and depression-anxiety than those without a history of child maltreatment. The impact of a history of sexual abuse for female juvenile sex offenders was found to be important with regard to higher levels of coercion of their sexual abuse victims. Important distinctions are highlighted that have implications for female-specific assessment, treatment, and prevention. [source]


Differential correlates to self-report and parent-report of callous,unemotional traits in a sample of juvenile sexual offenders

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 6 2009
Stuart F. White M.A.
The association of callous,unemotional (CU) traits with violence and severe antisocial behavior has led to a recent focus on the association between CU traits and sexual offending behavior. When assessing juveniles with sexual offenses, practice standards recommend that multiple sources of data are considered. However, the differential correlates of parent-report versus self-report of CU traits in juvenile sex offenders have not been investigated. A sample of 94 detained male youth (mean age,=,15.22, SD,=,1.48) was administered both youth and parent versions of the Inventory of Callous,Unemotional Traits (ICU), a general delinquency risk assessment tool (YLS), and a sexual offending risk assessment tool (J-SOAP-II) to investigate concordance between self-report and parent-report of CU traits as well as association with general and sex-specific risk factors. Both parent-report and self-report of CU traits were significantly related to higher general delinquency risk scores, with parent-report showing stronger correlations than self-report. Both parent-report and self-report were related to sex-specific risk factors. However, only parent-report significantly predicted static sexual risk, while self-report significantly predicted dynamic sexual risk scores. Evidence supports the importance of including both parent- and self-report of CU traits in the comprehensive assessment of sexually offending youth. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]