NCJ Number
168659
Journal
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: July 1997 Pages: 187-199
Date Published
1997
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The phenomenon of juvenile female sexual offending was explored in this study of 67 young people who had been referred for either community-based or residential treatment following a documented history of sexual perpetration.
Abstract
Data were collected on 16 females at the Pines Treatment Center in Virginia and on 51 females from Minnesota's Program for Healthy Adolescent Sexual Expression. All adolescents had been referred for evaluation and treatment following a documented history of sexual perpetration. They were referred by various agencies, including juvenile courts, social service departments, and private mental health treatment providers. The mean age of juvenile female sexual offenders was 14.3 years, with a range from 11 to 18 years; 86.6 percent were white, 8.9 percent were black, 30 percent were Asian, and 1.5 percent were Hispanic. Females were compared to a group of 70 juvenile male sexual offenders with respect to developmental and psychiatric characteristics, history of maltreatment, and sexual perpetration characteristics. Relative to juvenile males, histories of juvenile females reflected more extensive and pervasive childhood maltreatment. Many of the females were exposed to the modeling of interpersonal aggression by both males and females. Most females demonstrated repetitive patterns of sexual offending with multiple victims, suggesting psychosexual disturbances equivalent in severity to the comparison group of males. The authors discuss typological impressions of the clinical population of juvenile female sexual offenders and their special treatment needs and offer recommendations for additional research. 12 references and 3 tables