Female adolescents who engage in sexually abusive behaviors are an understudied population not well represented in the broader literature describing persons who have committed sexual offenses. Much of what is known related to etiology and important predictors of sexual crime is drawn from adult and male populations. However, there are potential differences that may have implications for prevention and treatment. For example, factors like offense characteristics and sexual boundaries in the home vary among male and female juveniles who sexually offend. By analyzing differences and patterns in sexual offending behaviors at younger ages, we can expand upon knowledge for future offense prevention among similar individuals. In the current study, we examined characteristics of a sample of five female adolescents receiving outpatient treatment for sexually abusive behaviors in comparison with empirical findings related to adult female sexual offenders and a sample of male adolescents receiving residential treatment for sexually abusive behavior. We hypothesized that females in the sample will evidence a history of poorer sexual boundaries in the home and a greater likelihood of sexual abuse victimization than males. We also predicted that females in the sample would have younger, more male, and fewer stranger sexual abuse victims than the males in the sample. Data are archival in nature and were obtained from an adolescent facility providing residential and outpatient sex offender treatment services. Variables related to offense characteristics include those describing frequency and onset of offending, offense types, and victim features. For sexual boundaries in the home, we examined a range of variables describing sexual abuse, sexual behaviors, and pornography use/exposure within the youth’s home of origin. While our sample of female adolescents who have engaged in sexually abusive behavior is small, such information can move us closer to understanding important contributors to the perpetration of sexual violence in this unique population. The first hypothesis on sexual boundaries in the home was supported. We found that all females in the sample experienced poor sexual boundaries in the home, compared to approximately 68% of males. Similarly, all females reported sexual abuse victimization and 61% of males reported sexual abuse victimization. The second hypothesis on crime characteristics was supported. Victim characteristics varied between genders, with all victims of females who engaged in sexually abusive behaviors being between the ages of 5 and 9. Male victims varied between ages 0 and 30, with most falling between ages 5 and 9. Approximately 80% of females had offended against a male while about 60% of the males had offended against a male. No females offended against a stranger, though approximately 5% of males did.

Three studies conducted in Vermont yielded data on 82 sexual recidivists’ index offenses (Time 1) and sexual reoffenses (Time 2) across 16 modus operandi (MO) characteristics. The current study examines the stability of these 16 characteristics between Time 1 and Time 2 offenses. Probabilities of Time 1–Time 2 characteristic combinations are reported, including when controlling for static risk as measured by the Static-99R and Vermont Assessment of Sex Offender Risk–2 (VASOR-2). Overall, considerable stability of offenders’ MO was evident between Time 1 and Time 2 offenses. Victim characteristics and offense behaviors were the most stable MO characteristics, and degree of force used and victim injury were less stable and trended toward less forceful and less injurious reoffenses. Controlling for static risk had little impact on the patterns of MO stability.

The amount of empirical research on men who commit sexual murders is scarce, and no distinction has been made between those who have victimized adults and those who have victimized children. Therefore, to better understand specifically sexual murderers of children (n = 11), comparisons were performed with a group of sexual murderers of adult women (n = 66) on developmental, precrime, crime, and postcrime factors. It appears that sexual murderers of children are more often victims of sexual abuse during childhood and present more often deviant sexual fantasies as compared to sexual murderers of women. The results show also that sexual murderers of children more often use pornography prior to crime, have contact with the victim prior to crime, and commit a crime more often characterized by premeditation, strangulation, the hiding of the body, and its dismemberment than the sexual murderers of women.

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The Multimodal Self-Regulation Theory was first introduced by Stinson, Sales, and Becker as an integrated theory of sexual offending premised on the assumption that persons who engage in acts of problematic sexual behaviour do so because of deficits in primary self-regulatory functioning. Self-regulation—or the ability to modulate emotions, thoughts, interactions, and behaviours effectively—has been discussed within the context of varied psychological and behavioural problems, including personality disorders and self-injurious behaviour. The Multimodal Self-Regulation Theory applies self-regulatory processes to sex offending, suggesting that such behaviours may be yet another form of maladaptive self-regulatory coping. Such an approach combines extensive literatures, ranging from developmental, cognitive-behavioural, and personality theory to neurobiology and criminology. In this chapter, we summarize the main tenets of the theory and discuss examples and case conceptualization using this approach. We also describe early empirical support with several samples of sexual offenders, as well as the development and piloting of a related treatment manual. In each of these sections, we additionally highlight areas for further study, including projects currently under way by the present authors. Finally, we review the theory’s primary strengths and limitations, referencing broader contextual research needs to clarify better the role of the Multimodal Self-Regulation Theory in understanding, treating, and preventing sex offending behaviours.

Using a secondary data set with no identifying information, this study evaluated the relationship between the adult male offending behaviors of alcoholism, drug dependency, and violent behavior and the social bonds of attachment and commitment that the adult male offender may have with his parents. The data was collected in 1970 as part of a study used to examine the correlates of violent criminal behavior and offending. This study was later titled the “Longitudinal Study of Violent Criminal Behavior in the United States (1970 – 1984).” The current study utilized Hirschi’s (1969) social bond theory in examining the correlation between offending behaviors, such as drug dependency, alcoholism, and the commission of a violent offense, among adult male offenders and the presence and strength of the social bonds of attachment and commitment.

No description available.

Child sexual assault is a problem of epidemic proportions in the United States with some research suggesting up to one fifth of our nations children being victimized before reaching adulthood. Research has suggested females could be responsible for up to 20% of child sexual abuse cases, and at the same time only represent only 1% of sexual offenders incarcerated the US. This creates a situation where a large group of relatively under-researched offenders are evading detection. Numerous calls for further research have been made, but relatively few studies have had the ability to shed significant light on this phenomenon on a national level. This project utilizes a dataset of virtually every reported child protective services case in the United States for the fiscal year 2010 in order to investigate the dynamics of perpetrator gender on child sexual offending in substantiated cases. Offense characteristics, as well as case level components, were assessed to investigate not only the differences in offending behavior but also the ways gender affects how offenders enter and exit our child protective systems and the services they receive while there. Extensive differences were uncovered as related to perpetrator gender. Models were informed by the female sexual offending literature. Practice and policy implications are discussed.

This thesis employs a broad evaluative framework to examine the impact of the Youth Justice Service (YJS) on the post-intervention offending behaviour of young people on community-based court orders. The YJS is a Queensland government policy initiative that aims to monitor compliance with community-based court orders, and identify and address causes of criminal behaviour. The evaluative framework views policy, implementation and impact as distinct but related dimensions of intervention. Reflecting this framework, three primary research questions are addressed: (1) Does the YJS concept represent a goal-directed, theoretically-informed, executable and assessable juvenile crime prevention policy?, (2) Is the YJS concept realised through service delivery?, and (3) What is the effect of the YJS on future offending behaviour? Three studies, employing qualitative and quantitative methods, examined these questions. Study one examined the YJS concept, drawing on some key themes from literature on policy development and implementation, developmental and life-course criminology and developmental crime prevention. This study synthesised key policy and procedure documents around six themes, including (1) rationale, (2) goals, (3) theory, (4) service delivery model, (5) method of operation, and (6) key performance indicators. Findings indicated that the YJS concept represents only marginal adjustments from the traditional Area Office (AO) model of service delivery, and integrates few new preventative mechanisms that would foreseeably lead to change at the operational level. Moreover, it suffers from goal ambiguity, fails to incorporate some key components of best-practice crime prevention that have proven successful when working with at-risk young people, lacks sufficient process-level specificity to ensure treatment fidelity, and places heightened importance on measuring impacts that have political value rather than benefits for the clients. In the second study, an in-depth case study of the Logan Area Youth Justice Service (LAYJS) was conducted to explore how the YJS operated in reality, and as compared with the policy directive. Information was drawn from a variety of sources including interviews with staff and clients, policy and procedure documents, direct observation, case management files and staff-researcher interaction. Evidence suggested that the LAYJS was focused primarily on ensuring compliance with court orders. Several organisational factors, such as staff workloads, the statutory basis for monitoring compliance, and the capacities of staff, have meant that comparatively little attention has been directed at addressing offending behaviour. For the most part, the LAYJS employs an individualised case management process, as distinct from the collaborative, team-based model that is prescribed in the YJS concept. Caseworkers have little faith in their ability to bring about positive behavioural change in their clients, and subsequently transferred the responsibility for intervention outcomes to the client. While acknowledging the importance of families in preventing offending, caseworkers emphasised that a number of organisational tensions have prevented them from engaging families in the case management process. The final study examined the impact of the YJS on post-intervention offending, controlling for developmental risk factors and key features of the intervention process. A random sample (N=190) of clients from three YJS offices and three AOs was drawn from the population of clients who had active community-based court orders between June 1999 and December 2002. Information from Department of Communities' case management files and rearrest data from the Queensland Police Service were entered into a purpose-designed database, and analysed using bivariate and multivariate methods including logistic regression and survival analysis. High proportions of missing data on non-statutory variables suggested poor record management practices, or alternatively that operational staff do not understand the role of developmental risk and/or protective factors and social contexts in preventing offending behaviour. Results indicated that the YJS was no better than the AO at preventing recidivism, as measured at 18-months post-intervention, even after controlling for risk factors that were significantly related to recidivism. The analyses found that some unmeasured variation in service delivery, even within service types, did impact upon recidivism, supporting the hypotheses of the first study and the contention that variation in intervention practice can influence offending behaviour. The likelihood of recidivism was increased if the client was using drugs or was influenced by delinquent peers, and decreased if he stayed in school until years 11 or 12, or where caseworkers addressed familial problems. This provides some sense of programs that may be appropriate for young offenders in the context of a community-based program. It also highlights the critical importance of incorporating families into case management, not only for the purpose of providing information, but also as viable targets of intervention. Survival analyses indicated that the YJS might have had some temporary deterrent effect, although this effect had dissipated by 18-months post-intervention. This result may reflect the increased focus on ensuring compliance with court orders as found in the LAYJS case study. However, given the hypothesis that the lack of process direction will result in variable practices across offices, it cannot be assumed that all YJSs place equal importance on compliance. Overall, findings suggest that the promise that the YJS would provide an innovative model of service delivery and generate improved outcomes for young offenders has not been realised. This research has added further weight to the perspective that examines both the individual and combined impact of theory, policy and implementation for measuring client outcomes. Deficits in any of these components ultimately have a ripple effect, making it difficult to achieve the predetermined goals of the policy at the operational level.