|
Abstract
|
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study by Kempton and Forehand was to compare incarcerated juvenile sex offenders with other juveniles incarcerated for non-sexual offenses, in order to examine differences in individuals' levels of internalizing and externalizing problems.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors conducted a quasi-experimental cross-sectional study with a non-probability sample of 83 male incarcerated juvenile delinquents between the ages of 11 and 18 years. Each of the residents of the facility had been rated on a five-point scale for mental health status, and participants were randomly selected from within each code level. Each subject was then grouped according to the type of offense he had ever committed - sex offender (n=7), confrontational nonsex offender (including battery, armed robbery, assault and homicide - n=32), sex and confrontational offender (n=9) and neither sex nor confrontational offender (including unruly behavior, possession of a weapon, car theft, shoplifting, burglary, drug possession or selling, terror threats, cruelty to animals, peeping tom, arson, property damage and trespassing - n=35). Sex offenders were subsequently further divided into two groups - those who had been convicted of rape or sodomy (n=7) and those who had been arrested for child molestation (n=8). One of each adolescent's teachers within the facility completed the Teacher Report Form of the Child Behavior Checklist, which has reported adequate reliability and validity. The authors examined a number of subscales from this measure - the Anxiety and the Social/Withdrawal subscales as a measure of internalizing problems, and the Aggressive and Inattentive subscales for externalizing problems. Analyses included ANOVA and Neuman-Keuls' tests.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Sex offenders were found to be less aggressive than nonsex offenders, and sex only offenders had lower scores than the sex plus confrontational and the nonsex plus nonconfrontational groups for the Social/Withdrawal, the Anxiety and the Inattentive subscales. No significant differences were found between the two types of sex offender (see following table for means of all measures).
Means for each dependent measure for each of the six groups.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sex Confrontational Anxiety Inattentive Aggressive Social
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
no no 8.43 15.86 31.37 8.57
no yes 6.59 11.72 23.56 6.19
yes no 3.86 6.29 13.86 2.43
yes yes 10.22 15.22 20.11 7.11
rape 2.56 2.00 10.00 2.44
child 3.33 1.67 13.22 2.22
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The authors concluded that sex offenders had fewer externalizing problems, and that sex only offenders had fewer internalizing difficulties. Sex offenders were thus perceived by their teachers as suffering from fewer overall behavioral and emotional problems than other juvenile offenders. The authors suggested that the use of teachers' report as opposed to self-reports of behavior might have influenced the findings. They also cautioned that the divisions between rape, sodomy and child molestation were wholly dependent upon the age of those involved - depending upon the difference in age between the assailant and the victim, the offense could be labeled as any of the three types. The authors suggested that these divisions might not be appropriate for the age group involved.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors recommended that more accurate and sensitive measures need to be employed in order to identify the psychological difficulties that sex offenders experience in order to successfully provide treatment.
EVALUATION:
The authors present an interesting examination of the differences between juvenile sex offenders and other types of offender. However, the small sample size, the use of only one of each juvenile's teachers as a rater of subjects' behavior and the use of one measure suggest that the results be viewed with some caution. It is difficult to draw the conclusion that sex offenders are different from others when using information provided by someone in a close relationship with the subject - perhaps researcher observation might have been a useful addition to the study to control for teacher bias. Despite these limitations, the paper provides a good basis for further research in the field of the juvenile offender. (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 - Comparative Analysis
KW - Juvenile Male
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Juvenile Inmate
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Male Inmate
KW - Male Offender
KW - Male Violence
KW - Child Male
KW - Child Inmate
KW - Child Violence
KW - Incarcerated
KW - Inmate Studies
KW - Offender Characteristics
KW - Sexual Assault Offender
KW - Late Childhood
KW - Late Adolescence
KW - Early Adolescence
KW - Rape Offender
KW - Child Molester
KW - Child Abuse Offender
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Offender
KW - Sexual vs. Nonsexual Offender
KW - Violence Against Women |