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Abstract

Pretreatment demographic variables, including age and extent of sexuality knowledge, along with psychometric test variables measuring psychological maladjustment, impulsivity, defensiveness, criminal prosecution, and preoccupation with sexual thoughts, were used to classify juvenile sex offenders as either likely or unlikely to complete treatment. Participants were 78 juvenile child molesters, ages 12 to 17 years, who were residents of an inpatient, sex-offender specific residential treatment program. Age and impulsivity produced the best fit model, correctly classifying 76.9% of the sample. This model represents a significant improvement over chance alone that would yield a rate of 52.6%. Cross-validation of this two-factor model on a different sample of 35 juvenile offenders with similar demographic characteristics, including age, ethnicity, IQ, criminal prosecution, and grade, correctly classified 71.43% of this sample.

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Pretreatment Variables Associated with Treatment Failure in a Residential Juvenile Sex-Offender Program

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