This research was designed to compare data obtained from agency records at three treatment programs for juvenile male sex offenders with information available from clinicians once youth and their families had been in treatment for at least 6 months. Results revealed that over the course of treatment, youth and their families disclosed information about additional victims and offenses, physical and sexual abuse of the offenders, and several aspects of a violent and sexualized family environment. Over half the boys reported additional victims or additional offenses or both. There were significant increases in the number of reports of physical abuse, witnessing of domestic violence, living in a sexual environment, maternal sexual victimization, maternal victimization of domestic violence, and fathers being perpetrators of domestic violence. These data clearly support the hypotheses of the study and have important implications for both clinical practice and future research in this area.
Aljazireh, L. (1993). Historical, environmental, and behavioral correlates of sexual offending by male adolescents: A critical review. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 11, 423-440.
2.
Barbaree, H.E., & Cortoni, F.A. (1993). Treatment of the juvenile sex offender within the criminal justice and mental health systems. In H. E. Barbaree, W. L. Marshall, & S. M. Hudosn (Eds.), The juvenile sex offender (pp 243-263). New York: The Guilford Press.
3.
Becker, J. (1998). What we know about the characteristics and treatment of adolescents who have committed sexual offenses. Maltreatment , 3, 317-329.
4.
Bengis, S. (1986). A comprehensive service-delivery system with a continuum of care for adolescent sexual offenders. Orwell, VT: The Safer SocietyProgram.
5.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
6.
Conger, R.D., Conger, K., Elder, G., Lorenz, F., Simons, R., & Whitbeck, L. (1992). A family process model of economic hardship and adjustment of early adolescent boys. Child Development, 63, 526-541.
7.
Fauber, R., Forehand, R., Thomas, A., & Wierson, M. (1990). A mediational model of the impact of marital conflict on adolescent adjustment in intact and divorced families. Child Development, 61, 1112-1123.
8.
Emerick, R.L., & Dutton, W.A. (1993). The effect of polygraphy on the self-report of adolescent sex offenders: Implications for risk assessment. Annals of Sex Research, 6, 83-103.
9.
Graves, R.B., Openshaw, D.K., Ascione, F.R., & Erikson, S.L. (1996). Demographic and parental characteristics of youthful sexual offenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 40, 300-317.
10.
Harrison, J.S., & Eliot, R.S. (1999). Polygraphing the adolescent sex offender in the residential setting. Polygraph, 28, 176-181.
11.
Henggeler, S. (1997). Treating serious anti-social behavior in youth: The MST approach. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention .
12.
Henggeler, S., & Borduin, C. (1995). Multi-systemic treatment of serious juvenile offenders and their families. In I. Schwartz & P. AuClaire (Eds.), Home-based services for troubled children (pp. 113-139). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
13.
Henggeler, S., Schoenwald, S., Borduin, C., Rowland, M., & Cunningham, P. (1998). Multisystemic treatment of antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. New York: The Guilford Press.
14.
Johnson, T.C. (1988). Child perpetrators—children who molest other children: Preliminary findings. Child Abuse and Neglect, 12, 219-229.
15.
Kim, J., Hetherington, M., & Reiss, D. (1998). Associations among family relationships, anti-social peers, and adolescents' externalizing behaviors: Gender and family type differences . Child Development, 70, 1209-1230.
16.
Knight, R.A., & Prentky, R. (1993). Exploring characteristics for classifying juvenile sex offenders. In H. E. Barbaree, W. L. Marshall, & S. M. Hudson (Eds.), The juvenile sex offender. New York: The Guilford Press.
17.
Kobayashi, J., Sales, B.D., Becker, J.V., Figueredo, A.J., & Kaplan, M.S. (1995). Perceived parental deviance, parent-child bonding, child abuse, and child sexual aggression. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 7, 25-45.
18.
Loeb, R., & Stouthamer-Loeb, M. (1998). Development of juvenile aggression and violence: Some common misconceptions and controversies. American Psychologist, 53, 242-259.
19.
Minuchin, S., Montalvo, B.G., Guerney, B., Rosman, B.L., & Schumer, F. (1967). Families of the slums: An exploration of their structure and treatment. New York: Basic Books.
20.
New, M., Stevenson, J., & Skuse, D. (1999). Characteristics of mothers of boys who sexually abuse. Child Maltreatment, 4, 21-31.
21.
Patterson, G.R., & Dishion, T.J. (1982). Contributions of families and peers to delinquency . Criminology, 23, 63-79.
22.
Prentky, R., Harris, B., Frizzell, K., & Righthand, S. (2000). An actuarial procedure for assessing risk with juvenile sex offenders. Sexual Abuse, A Journal of Research and Treatment, 12, 71-93.
23.
Ryan, G. (1997). The families of sexually abusive youth. In G. Ryan & S. Lane (Eds.), Juvenile sexual offenders (pp. 136-156). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
24.
Sefarbi, R. (1990). Admitters and deniers among adolescent sex offenders and their families: A preliminary study. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60, 460-465.
25.
Singer, M. (1974). Delinquency and family disciplinary configurations: An elaboration of the superego lacunae concept. General Psychiatry , 21, 795-798.
26.
Smith, W. (1988). Delinquency and abuse among juvenile sexual offenders . Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 3, 400-413.
27.
Thomas, J. (1997). The family in treatment. In G. Ryan & S. Lane (Eds.), Juvenile sexual offenders (pp. 360-403). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
28.
Tolan, P.H., Cromwell, R.E., & Brasswell, M. (1986). Family therapy with delinquents: A critical review of the literature. Family Process, 25, 619-649.
29.
Worling, J. (1995). Sexual abuse histories of adolescent male sex offenders: Differences on the basis of the age and gender of their victims . Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104, 610-613.
