Adolescent sex offenders with mental retardation: Literature review and assessment considerations

Working with adolescent sex offenders can be a difficult challenge. When an offender also suffers from mental retardation, this challenge increases. Unfortunately, this has been a largely ignored population, and clinicians working with this group often find little empirical work to assist them. Yet, many theorists posit that addressing sexual offending behavior when the offender is an adolescent may help prevent that behavior from continuing into adulthood. This is important because adult sexual offenders are often very difficult to treat. The current paper begins by reviewing literature on social deficits of individuals who have mental retardation. These deficits may contribute to aberrant sexual behavior among adolescents. The focus of the paper is then a review of literature on adolescent sex offenders, including those with mental retardation. We conclude this review with suggestions for assessment of adolescent sex offenders and with recommendations for future directions.     

Factors associated with erection in adolescent sex offenders

A majority of adult child molesters report that their deviant interest began prior to the age of 18. This illustrates the need to evaluate adolescents who have molested children. Since self-report of deviant interest is rare in adolescent offenders, psychophysiologic assessment is necessary to help to determine the extent for a deviant interest pattern. The current study was designed to determine what factors are associated with erectile responding to age-inappropriate stimuli in an adolescent sex offender population. Factors studied were (a) admit/deny, (b) history of physical abuse, (c) history of sexual abuse, (d) history of nonsex arrests, and (e) incest/nonincest. The dependent variables were two pedophile indices, a relative measure of deviant to nondeviant arousal. Results indicated that history of sexual abuse was associated with more deviant erectile responding in those adolescents who had molested young boys. The possibility of adolescents modeling their own victimization is discussed.     

Ambulante Behandlung von Sexualstraftätern

Treatment of sexual offenders is still a controversial issue for both forensic clinical practice and research. The methods to evaluate efficacy and effectiveness in the field of forensic psychiatry and psychotherapy show many distinctive characteristics. Especially outpatient treatment of sexual offenders takes place in a conflict of interest. This article aims to illustrate several potentials and difficulties in the field of sexual offender treatment using the example of the Hamburg Institute for Sex Research and Forensic Psychiatry at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE).     

The sexually violent offender: Impulsive or ritualistic?

The article presents and develops a paradigm of serial, sexual offenders derived from our criminal investigative analysis experience and research. The paradigm delineates two major categories of sexually violent offenders. The Impulsive Offender is described as being criminally unsophisticated, and largely reactive in terms of his victim selection and crime-scene behavior. It is observed that this type of offender is often characterized by a diverse criminal history, rather generic sexual interests, and significant levels of physical violence. The Ritualistic Offender, in contrast, is characterized by diverse paraphilic interests, a pervasive and defining fantasy life, and a carefully developed and executed set of crime-scene behaviors. These two distinctions are examined as they inform the analysis of a sexually violent crime by criminal investigative analysts as well as the clinical evaluation of these offenders within a forensic context. The potential utility of this type of paradigmatic delineation for risk assessments and for assessing the potential for future recidivism is also highlighted.     

Physical Attractiveness,Dangerousness, and the Canadian Criminal Code1

The Canadian Criminal Code contains provisions for labelling certain convicted criminal offenders as Dangerous Offenders. Sentences of indefinite duration are usually imposed on these offenders in place of the fixed sentences that would normally be imposed. The present study examined one potential source of bias in the use of the Dangerous Offender provisions, the physical attractiveness of an offender. Two hundred and eighty-four adults were given information about a hypothetical offender, including a facial photograph and a conviction record. They responded to questions about the dangerousness of the offender, including questions drawn from the Dangerous Offender criteria. Subjects perceived physically unattractive sexual offenders as significantly more likely to fulfill the Dangerous Offender criteria than average-looking and attractive sexual offenders. In particular, unattractive sexual offenders were seen as significantly less likely to restrain their behavior in the future. In light of the fact that there is currently no evidence that physical attractiveness is a valid predictor of sexual offender recidivism, this finding provides grounds to question whether the Dangerous Offender provisions of the Canadian Criminal Code, as they now stand, can be administered impartially.     

Jugendliche Sexualstraftäter: Spezialfälle der Prognoseerstellung?

This study compared a sample of 273 juvenile (aged 14 to under 18), 178 adolescent (aged 18 to under 21) and 273 adult (older than 20 years) male sex offenders modus operandi (or MO, the way in which they committed their offenses), frequency of recidivism and predicted recidivism via the static-99. In terms of the frequencies of the MO aspects we found that juveniles and adolescents differed significantly from adult sexual offenders. However, concerning the frequency of sexual violent behaviors, adolescents committed more severe offenses in contrast to the two other groups. The comparison of recidivism rates indicated that adolescent sexual offenders were significantly less likely to commit a new sexual offense, but were considerably more likely to commit a non-sexual violent offense compared to adult sexual offenders. For juvenile offenders, only few static-99 variables were predictive of future recidivism in comparison to the other groups, suggesting that the static-99 may only have a restricted utility in juvenile offenders. Further, juvenile offenders risk levels were found to fall primarily within the medium risk group making individual differentiation of potential risk difficult. It is suggested that additional predictors, which help to differentiate young sexual offenders must be investigated.     

Counseling Sexually Abused Children

Cases of sexual abuse of children are being reported in increasing numbers. A large percentage of child sexual abuse occurs in or around the home. Family members, family friends, or known adults are most often the offenders. There are certain family factors likely to be operating in a child's sexual abuse and these factors must be explored with all family members. Sexual abuse can have many disturbing consequences for the child and the family. A counseling approach should be to help an abused child and the offender feel that they are still worthwhile individuals. Underlying issues in the family should also be explored. Paula Slager-Jorné is director of training at the Children's Center in Detroit, Michigan.     

Wo steht der Jugendmaßregelvollzug in Deutschland aktuell?

With up to 67% of all young offenders suffering from mental illnesses, the question of how professional care should be arranged for them arises. The ability to detain a young offender for an indefinite period of time in a forensic psychiatric institution represents the final solution in juvenile law. This currently affects approximately 300 patients nationwide, of which there is precise data available only for patients who were detained before the age of 18. This is due to the differing nationwide organisational structures within specific forensic psychiatric institutions for adolescents. There is currently a lack of forensic psychiatric units in several federal states providing treatment for adolescents. When examining under what basis, and when the relocation of a person from a young forensic psychiatric institution into the corresponding adult one occurred, and how long specific pedagogic facilities were provided to these individuals, the differences between various adolescent forensic psychiatric institutions become apparent. This especially concerns young adolescent offenders suffering from delayed mental development.     

Effective interventions and the Good Lives Model: Maximizing treatment gains for sexual offenders

The effective risk management of sexual offenders is arguably one of the most contentious social issues of our day. The community is justifiably outraged by what it perceives to be a failure of correctional and mental health practitioners to demonstrate that rehabilitative and supervisory methods promote public safety. Those who treat offenders and attempt to manage risk are often frustrated by what appear, at times, to be emotion-based reactions to low base-rate incidents. The literature on effective correctional programming has produced a workable model—Risk/Needs/Responsivity (RNR)—in which interventions match intensity of treatment to level of risk, specifically target criminogenic needs, and tailor treatment to the personal and interpersonal needs and capacities of participants. However, this model has been criticized regarding an apparent failure to appreciate the totality of client needs, specifically with respect to offender responsivity concerns. The Good Lives Model (GLM) suggests that treatment for sexual offenders must regard participants as whole beings in need of focus in many principal life areas (e.g., family, employment, leisure, community, personal well-being). This article proposes that RNR and GLM are complementary and that, by emphasizing the merits of each, offender management and general well-being can be maximized while community safety is increased.     

Characterization and Prediction of Sexual and Nonsexual Recidivism Among Adjudicated Juvenile Sex Offenders

Estimating the risk of sexual recidivism for a juvenile sex offender is essential in order to protect public safety by identifying and evaluating high risk adolescents and to ensure the rights and welfare of juvenile offenders who will not likely reoffend. Empirically validated risk assessment methods are needed to aid in the classification and treatment of juvenile sex offenders. The present study utilized a dataset collected by Maricopa County, AZ, and aggregated by the National Juvenile Court Data Archive. The purpose of the study was to evaluate and characterize risk factors for juveniles who have been charged with a sexual offense in order to determine the predictive utility of these factors for subsequent offending, as well as offense trajectory, and to evaluate risk factors for nonsexual offenders who have committed crimes of various severities. The results of the present study show the strongest individual predictors of sexual recidivism to be prior nonsexual offending, prior sexual offending, hands‐off offending, offending against a child, younger school grade/age at time of initial offense, Asian or Hispanic ethnicity, and not attending school. A preliminary screening measure was developed from the seven positive risk factors, and ROC analysis produced an AUC indicating moderate predictive utility in discriminating between juvenile sex offenders who would sexually reoffend and those who would not. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Female Juvenile Offending: A Review of Characteristics and Contexts

We reviewed current literature on female juvenile offending including the scope and nature of offending by female adolescents and the risk and protective factors across ecological contexts. We suggested that female juvenile offending is best viewed within a multidimensional framework in which female adolescent developmental characteristics as well as the ecological contexts must be considered for effective preventions and interventions. An ecological framework may assist professionals to target adolescent female offenders who are most likely to be chronic offenders. We offered both an intervention and research frame for addressing the issue of offending among our female youth and concluded that, as the incidence of female juvenile offending increases, researchers and practitioners are well advised to consider both the contexts surrounding the potential female adolescent offender as well as the contexts that contribute to her resiliency against offending.     

Factors associated with parenting among incarcerated juvenile offenders

In regard to the injured offender, research indicates that violent victimization represents only one facet of a constellation of associated risks and consequences, including promiscuity and adolescent parenthood. A relationship between firearm injuries and self-reported promiscuity among incarcerated juvenile offenders has previously been noted. The present study was an attempt to gain additional insight into the larger consequences of violent injuries. Information pertaining to the fathering of children was collected from 258 incarcerated male adolescents from the Richmond, Virginia, metropolitan area during a two-year period. It was hypothesized that adolescent parenting would be associated with firearm injuries. The results indicated that 20% of the juvenile offenders fathered at least one child. Analyses revealed a significant relationship between firearm injuries and increased prevalence of adolescent parenting. Continued involvement in illegal activities, as indicated by a second commitment to a juvenile correctional center, also was associated with increased prevalence of adolescent parenting, while race and involvement in drug selling or violent offending were not. The social and economic implications of these findings, particularly in terms of the health care and social service delivery systems, are discussed.     

Does sexual offender treatment work? A systematic review of outcome evaluations

The article reports a systematic review of controlled outcome evaluations of psychosocial and organic sexual offender treatment. A comprehensive search of the literature in five languages revealed 80 independent comparisons between treated and untreated groups of sexual offenders ( N = 22,181). The majority of studies confirmed a positive treatment effect. Overall, 11.1% of treated offenders and 17.5% of controls showed sexual recidivism (37% difference). Findings for violent and general recidivism were similar. Studies on surgical castration showed the strongest effect; however, this was confounded with methodological and offender characteristics. Hormonal medication, cognitive-behavioural, and behavioural approaches also revealed a positive effect. Non-behavioural treatments did not show a significant impact. Other moderators such as small sample size, authors' affiliation with the program, program completion versus dropout, or type of outcome measure had a significant impact. Methodological study characteristics explained the largest proportion of effect size variance. Overall, findings are promising but more differentiated evaluations of high quality are needed.     

Child versus peer/adult offenders: A critical review of the juvenile sex offender literature

Sexual offenses are serious crimes and it is believed that adolescents perpetrate 20% of all sexual assaults and 50% of all child sexual abuse (Barbaree & Marshall, 2006). To better understand the etiology of juvenile sexual offending, researchers have explored differences between those who offend children versus those who offend peers/adults. This paper critically reviewed 21 studies that compared juvenile sex offenders who abused children with those who abused peers/adults on a variety of variables including victim, offense, and offender characteristics; psychosocial variables; and predictors and rates of recidivism. Strengths and weaknesses of these studies as well as future directions for the literature are discussed. Common methodological limitations of victim-age based comparisons of juvenile sex offenders included inconsistent definitions, low-powered studies, lack of standardized measures, and recidivism data based solely on conviction rates. Overall, many inconsistent findings limit our ability to give overarching conclusions; however, the research does suggests that not only is it important to examine child and peer/adult offenders, but mixed offenders (i.e., offender with both child and peer victims) as a distinct group need to be included in comparisons as well.     

Online "predators" and their victims: myths, realities, and implications for prevention and treatment

The publicity about online "predators" who prey on naive children using trickery and violence is largely inaccurate. Internet sex crimes involving adults and juveniles more often fit a model of statutory rape--adult offenders who meet, develop relationships with, and openly seduce underage teenagers--than a model of forcible sexual assault or pedophilic child molesting. This is a serious problem, but one that requires approaches different from those in current prevention messages emphasizing parental control and the dangers of divulging personal information. Developmentally appropriate prevention strategies that target youths directly and acknowledge normal adolescent interests in romance and sex are needed. These should provide younger adolescents with awareness and avoidance skills while educating older youths about the pitfalls of sexual relationships with adults and their criminal nature. Particular attention should be paid to higher risk youths, including those with histories of sexual abuse, sexual orientation concerns, and patterns of off- and online risk taking. Mental health practitioners need information about the dynamics of this problem and the characteristics of victims and offenders because they are likely to encounter related issues in a variety of contexts.     

The treatment of youthful sexual offenders

Approximately 20% of all rapes and between 30% and 50% of child molestations are perpetrated by adolescent males. These statistics underscore the need for improved understanding of youthful sexual offending so that effective prevention measures may be utilized for those adolescents at risk of offending and effective treatments may be utilized with those adolescents who have already committed sexual offenses. In this article we review the current knowledge of the characteristics of youthful offenders, proposed etiologies of youthful offending, proposed typologies of, assessment protocols, and treatments for youthful offenders. Finally we discuss the need for further research in the area of youthful sex offending.     

Comparing serial homicides to single homicides: A study of prevalence,offender, and offence characteristics in Sweden

Multiple and serial homicides constitute around 1.6% of all homicides but have unusually tragic outcomes. The aims of this study were to report the prevalence serial‐homicide offences and the characteristics of serial‐homicide offenders in a non‐North American context. The study included all convicted serial‐homicide offenders in Sweden from 1973 to 2012 (n = 25), as well as a population‐based control sample of single‐homicide offenders collected during 2007 and 2009 (n = 201). Similar to U.S. findings, approximately 1.6% of homicides could be attributed to serial‐homicide offenders. Serial offenders were more often diagnosed with personality disorders and autism‐spectrum disorders compared with single offenders; and serial offences more often involved victims who were female and unacquainted with the offender, as well as planning, sexual motives, and asphyxia as method of violence. One third of serial offences involved actions aimed at disguising the manner of death; such actions were considerably less common in single‐homicide offences. Few offenders displayed the traditional profile of a serial‐homicide offender; however, one third displayed sexual motives, a rate roughly 10 times higher than that in the single‐homicide group. The study concludes that serial‐homicide offenders should be subjected to forensic‐psychiatric examinations and that research involving cross‐contextual differences and similarities in serial‐homicide offenders is needed.     

Integrating research into practice: The Forward-Focused Model of adolescent sexual behavior treatment

Knowledge of adolescents with sexual behavior problems has continued to grow over the past two decades, further differentiating the needs of this group from adult sex offenders. However, treatment programs based upon the current literature have yet to be fully articulated. In an attempt to address this gap between knowledge and practice, a comprehensive treatment program for adolescents with sexual behavior problems was developed: the Forward-Focused Model. The Forward-Focused Model is rooted in cognitive–behavioral theory, incorporates motivational approaches, and is developmentally-sensitive to address the unique needs of adolescents. This empirically-based model is introduced in this article.