Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T03:42:55.608Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Characteristics of adolescent sex offenders in New South Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Ian Nisbet  and
Katie Seidler
Ian Nisbet*
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
Katie Seidler
Affiliation:
NSW Department Corrective Services
*
School of Applied Psychology, Mt Gravatt Campus, Griffith University, NATHAN QLD 4111, Tel: 61 7387 53316, Fax: 61 7387 55802, [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Characteristics of adolescents who sexually offend, their patterns of their offending behaviour and the defining features of their victims are firmly established in the overseas literature. The research literature in Australia, however, is less developed. This study describes the characteristics of a sample of clients of the Sex Offender Program of the New South Wales Department of Juvenile Justice and examines patterns of offence behaviours and related descriptions of victims. Adolescents who sexually offend in NSW have backgrounds of low educational attainment and abuse and a range of other social risk factors, and they are most likely to victimise female children. A typology of adolescent sex offenders based on their offending behaviour is offered.

Keywords

Adolescent Sex OffendersJuvenile Sex OffendersSexual OffendingJuvenile justice
Type
Research Article
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , 2001 , pp. 71 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Awad, G.A., & Saunders, E.B. (1989). Adolescent child molesters: Clinical observations. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 19(3), 195–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Awad, G.A., & Saunders, E.B. (1991). Male adolescent sexual assaulters: Clinical observations. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 6(4), 446–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barbaree, H.E., Hudson, S.M., & Seto, M.C. (1993). Sexual assault in society: The role of the juvenile offender. In Barbaree, H.E., Marshall, W.L., & Hudson, S.M. (Ed.), The juvenile sex offender (pp.1–24). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1997). An analysis of data on rape and sexual assault: Sex offences and offenders. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.Google Scholar
Davis, G., & Leitenberg, H. (1987). Adolescent sex offenders. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 418–427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Epps, K. (1996). Sex offenders. In Hollin, C.R. (Ed.), Working with offenders:Psychological practice in offender rehabilitation (pp.150–187). London: John Wiley & Sons:.Google Scholar
Flanagan, K., & Hayman-White, K. (2000). An Australian adolescent sex offender treatment program: Program and client description. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 5, 59–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, P., & Poletti, P. (1998). Sentencing disparity and the ethnicity of juvenile offenders. Sydney: Judicial Commission of NSW.Google Scholar
Hayashino, D.S., Wurtele, S.K., & Klebe, K.J. (1995). Child molesters: An examination of cognitive factors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 10(1), 106–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsu, L.K.G., & Starzynski, J. (1990). Adolescent rapists and adolescent child sexual assaulters. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 34, 23–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahn, T.J., & Chambers, H.J. (1991). Assessing reoffence risk with juvenile sexual offenders. Child Welfare, 70, 333–345.Google Scholar
Kenny, D.T., Keogh, T., & Seidler, K. (2001). Predictors of recidivism in Australian juvenile sex offenders: Implications for treatment. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 13, 131–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kenny, D.T., Seidler, K., Keogh, T., & Blaszczynski, A. (2000). Offence and clinical characteristics of Australian juvenile sex offenders. Psychiatry, Psychology and the Law, 7, 212–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kobayashi, J., Sales, B.D., Becker, J.V., Figueredo, A.J., & Kaplan, M.S. (1995). Perceived parental deviance, parent-child bonding, child abuseand child sexual aggression. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 7, 25–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laws, D.R., & O’Donohue, W. (Eds.). (1997). Sexual deviance: Theory, assessment and treatment New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Male Adolescent Program for Positive Sexuality. (1998). Literature review:Male adolescent sex offending and treatment. Melbourne: Victorian Government, Department of Human Services.Google Scholar
Manocha, K.R., & Mezey, G. (1998). British adolescents who sexually abuse: a descriptive study. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 9, 588–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, W.L. (1996). Assessment, treatment, and theorizing about sex offenders. Developments during past 20 years and future directions. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 23(1), 162–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, W.L., Barbaree, H.E., & Fernandez, Y.M. (1995). Some aspects of social competence in sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 7, 113–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moriarty, N., Stough, C., Tidmarsh, P., Eger, D., & Dennison, S. (2001). Deficits in emotional intelligence underlying adolescent sex offending. Journal of Adolescence, 24, 743–751.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Myers, W.C. (2002). Juvenile sexual homicide. San Diego: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Oliver, L.L., Nagayama-Hall, G.C., & Neuhaus, S.M. (1993). A comparison of the personality and background characteristics of adolescent offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 20, 359–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, G. (1997). Incidence and prevalence of sexual offenses committed by juveniles. In Ryan, S.L.G. (Ed.), Juvenile sexual offending: Causes, consequences, and correction (new and revised edition). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Ryan, G., Miyoshi, T.J., Metzner, J.L., Krugman, R.D., & Fryer, G.E. (1996). Trends in a national sample of sexually abusive youths. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,35, 17–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saunders, E., Awad, G.A., & White, G. (1986). Male adolescent sexual offenders: the offender and the offense. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 31, 542–549.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smallbone, S.W., & Dadds, M.R. (1998). Childhood attachment and adult attachment in incarcerated male sex offenders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 13, 555–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, J., & McDonald, D. (1995). The over-representation of indigenous people in custody in Australia. Australian Institute of Criminology Trends & Issues in Crime & Criminal Justice, 47, 1–6.Google Scholar
Worling, J.R. (1995a). Adolescent sex offenders against females: Differences based on the age of their victims. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 19(5), 633–643.Google Scholar
Worling, J.R. (1995b). Sexual abuse histories of adolescent male sexoffenders: Differences on the basis of the age and gender of their victims. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104, 610–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar