NCJ Number
128727
Date Published
1986
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Many juvenile sexual offenders have homosexual conflicts that must be addressed before treatment can progress.
Abstract
Tests and case studies indicate that there is a group of adolescent sexual offenders who have homosexual conflicts that influence their criminal behavior. These are not boys who are openly homosexual. They have latent or preconscious homosexual feelings unacceptable to them and their self-image. They detest their homosexual feelings and attempt to repress them. It is when these feelings are repressed, however, that they are at risk of sexually abusing a younger child, particularly a female, in an effort to re-establish a sagging sense of masculinity. Their fear and hatred of women their own age or older may block them from pursuing normative heterosexual relations. Given this circumstance, therapeutic groups for juvenile sexual offenders should be structured to create a climate in which homosexual feelings can be discussed. The therapist must maintain a neutral stance on homosexual or bisexual feelings in working with this population, but the therapist should not give the impression that he supports homosexual behavior. The homosexual conflict should be resolved in the direction of heterosexuality.