NCJ Number
167753
Date Published
1997
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Juvenile delinquency factors are examined, with emphasis on major sociological theories and research findings regarding which theories are most applicable to juvenile sex offenders.
Abstract
Differential association theory states that individuals become socialized into a deviant society and that the antisocial peers then reinforce their antisocial attitudes. In contrast, social control theory assumed that individuals would naturally act in self-serving and antisocial ways but that their attachment to others and desire for acceptance by these others modify their behavior. Adolescent sex offenders rarely act out with their peers unless they are gang rapists. However, clinical intuition for the earliest beginnings of sex offender treatment has led therapists to examine the disrupted interpersonal relationships of this group. These offenders' disruption of parental relations and expectations of rejection by significant others support the social control theories. The authors' research compared adolescent male sex offenders with juvenile delinquents who did not commit sex offenses. The participants were 78 youths in sex offender treatment programs in Minnesota and comparison groups of violent youth and nondelinquent youth; the comparison groups were constructed using data from the National Youth Survey. Results indicated that sex offenders differed from others in their interpretation of available data regarding school achievement and expectations of rejection by adults. These findings and the available information from the literature indicate that future studies of the causes of juvenile sex offending should focus on affiliation and attachment variables and would benefit from theoretical guidance, mainly from social control and strain theories. The crucial role of family isolation also deserves further research attention. 70 references