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Individual, Family, Peer, and Academic Characteristics of Male Juvenile Sexual Offenders

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Abstract

This study examined the individual functioning, interpersonal relations, and academic performance of 115 male juveniles who were divided into 5 demographically matched groups (sexual offenders with peer/adult victims, sexual offenders with child victims, violent nonsexual offenders, nonviolent nonsexual offenders, and nondelinquent youths). Parents and youths completed self-report instruments, behavior rating inventories, and a videorecorded interaction task, and teachers completed a rating measure. Results showed that juvenile sexual offenders, like juvenile nonsexual offenders, had more behavior problems, more difficulties in family and peer relations, and poorer academic performance than did nondelinquent youths. However, juvenile sexual offenders and nonsexual offenders did not differ on any of the measures of individual or interpersonal adjustment. The implications of these findings for research, theory, and treatment are discussed.

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Notes

  1. We also examined whether scores on the study measures were significantly correlated with the number of arrests for sexual crimes among juvenile sexual offenders (collapsing across the two groups of sexual offenders). There were no significant correlations, suggesting that youths with more arrests for sexual crimes did not have problems that differed from those of youths with fewer arrests for such crimes.

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  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211-2500, USA

    Scott T. Ronis & Charles M. Borduin

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  1. Scott T. Ronis
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  2. Charles M. Borduin
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Correspondence to Charles M. Borduin.

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Ronis, S.T., Borduin, C.M. Individual, Family, Peer, and Academic Characteristics of Male Juvenile Sexual Offenders. J Abnorm Child Psychol 35, 153–163 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-006-9058-3

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