Intrafamilial and extrafamilial sex offenders receive differential treatment from criminal justice, mental health, and social service agencies. This differential treatment is based on assumptions that intrafamilial offenders are better candidates for successful treatment and that they are less dangerous than extrafamilial offenders. These assumptions are based upon clinical experience and anecdotal reports, but they lack empirical research evidence. The present study attempts to address the need for objective information regarding sex offenders and their offenses. Specifically, it compares a group of intrafamilial offenders with a group of extrafamilial offenders in terms of variables related to treatment prognosis, dangerousness, and psychological characteristics. The results suggest that there is a sound basis for the decisions being made by criminal justice, mental health, and social service agencies. Intrafamilial sex offenders are predominantly regressed offenders who do not have fixed sexual preferences for children and who are thought to be treatable in community-based treatment programs. In contrast, extrafamilial offenders are predominantly fixated offenders who do have fixed sexual preferences for children and who are thought to be particularly difficult, if not impossible, to treat. In addition, intrafamilial offenders appear less dangerous than extrafamilial offenders in that they used less forceful and violent means of coercion in order to gain compliance of their victims. No significant differences were found between groups regarding their psychological characteristics as measured by the MMPI. While the literature has characterized regressed offenders as men who sexually abuse children in the context of situational stress and family dysfunction, no evidence of this was found in the present study. This finding raises a question regarding the definition, understanding, and validity of the concept of the regressed offender. This may be of some importance to evaluators and treatment teams who believe that the treament of choice for the regressed offender involves family therapy and the alleviation of stress-related factors, while they tend to neglect or minimize the possible contribution of the individual psychopathology of the offender.

Research on child sexual abuse (CSA), from the perspective of the perpetrator, has been conducted to better inform intervention and prevention programs. Although information from perpetrators can be beneficial for these programs, much of the research is limited by the diversity of sample populations of sex offenders. Moreover, potentially distinct variables relevant to specific populations (e.g., Latinos) have not been thoroughly studied in relation to CSA. To better understand the perpetration of CSA on variables that may be of particular concern to Latinos (i.e., relationship quality in familial supervision and acculturation strategies), the purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships between supervisor relationship quality, acculturation, and adolescent group membership (i.e., juvenile sex offender - JSO and juvenile comparison - JC). It was hypothesized that Latinos who are assimilated or marginalized are more likely to belong to the JSO group than the JC group. Further, Latino adolescents characterized by an integrated or separated acculturation strategy are more likely to be affiliated with JC group than the JSO group. It was also hypothesized that participants' relationship with their familial supervisor will predict adolescent membership and that acculturation will mediate this relationship. Results for both hypotheses were inconclusive. The probability of using a specific acculturation strategy was not statistically different for either adolescent group. The relationship between supervisor relationship quality and juvenile group membership was non-significant; therefore, the meditational role of acculturation could not be assessed. Further research, using a larger sample size with more complete data is recommended. Suggestions for other design improvements are also provided.

In the last decade, it has been recognized that juveniles commit as much as 20% of all sexual offenses in the United States (DOJ, 2004). Research that attempts to understand why young people commit sex crimes points to an array of family factors that may uniquely contribute to the development of sexual offending over and above general juvenile delinquency. This study specifically examines disrupted caregiving, or receiving insufficient or substitute care, as a potential moderator in the relationship between offense status and caregiver-child relationship quality. Four distinct moderators were tested: gender of caregiver, biological relationship between caregiver and child, number of times the youth has changed caregivers, and child maltreatment history. Results indicate that juvenile sexual offenders have particularly poor relationships with their primary caregivers, and that caregiver gender, biological relationship between caregiver and child, and child maltreatment history act as moderators. Thus, while juvenile sexual offenders in general have poor relationships with their caregivers, those with male caregivers and those who have experienced physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect, have relationships that are even worse. In contrast, sexual offenders raised by non-biological caregivers showed better relationship quality than did youth raised by their biological parents. These findings suggest opportunities for early intervention, before caregiving is disrupted. Furthermore, additional supports may be offered to youth whose family structures suggest that they may be at increased risk.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is recognized as a public health problem with consequences affecting all levels of the ecological model. In recent years it has been recognized that up to 40% of reported sexual offenses occur at the hands of adolescent offenders (Burton, 2000), who are defined as children aged 12-18 years. In recent years, research has suggested that attachment deficits contribute to sexual offending behavior in adolescence. The current study augments the sparse research with adolescent offenders and by exploring of the participant's perceived attachment to important others (mother/mother figures, father/father figures, and peers/friends). Participants included 101 Juvenile sex offenders (JSO) and 97 Juvenile Delinquents (JD) detained in Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) facilities during the summer of 2010. Significant differences were found in adolescents' attachment to father/father figures in both overall attachment and a perceived degree of trust. Additionally JSO also showed a higher level of alienation from father/father figures and lower in overall perceived degree of trust with all important others. These findings may provide an opportunity for early intervention strategies, as well as support programs designed to strengthen or develop connections between adolescent offenders and positive male role models to enhance the effectiveness of juvenile sex offender treatment.