NCJ Number
139649
Journal
Behavioral Research Therapy Volume: 30 Issue: 5 Dated: (1992) Pages: 533- 536
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This study compared incarcerated juvenile sex offenders with incarcerated youth who committed confrontational but nonsexual offenses and to those youth who committed only nonconfrontational, nonsexual offenses; comparisons were also made between two subtypes of sex offenders: those youth convicted for rape or sodomy versus those convicted for child molestation.
Abstract
Eighty-three male incarcerated juvenile delinquents participated in the study. Fifteen of the youth, all of whom were sex offenders, also participated in the secondary analyses. The Teacher Report Form of the Child Behavior Checklist was completed by one of the adolescent's teachers within the correctional facility. Subscales representing the two areas of adolescent problems selected for study were examined: internalizing problems (Anxiety and Social/Withdrawal subscales) and externalizing problems (Aggressive and Inattentive subscales). The results indicate that sex offenders generally, particularly those who had committed only sex offenses, were perceived by teachers as having fewer externalizing and internalizing problems than nonsexual offenders. No differences were found between the two subtypes of sex offenders. The authors advise that study findings may have limited usefulness due to the small sample, the respondents' familiarity with the subjects, or the instrument used. The results are important, however, in that they suggest that sex offenders may be a unique group of juvenile delinquents. 2 tables and 11 references