NCJ Number
127729
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: (1990) Pages: 567-575
Date Published
1990
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Adolescent child molesters were compared with nonsex offending delinquents and normal adolescents on standardized measures of social competence and psychological adjustment.
Abstract
The measures included the Adolescent Assertiveness Scale, the Survey of Heterosocial Interactions, the Self-Consciousness Scale, the Social Anxiety and Distress Scale, the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Jesness Inventory. Not only did adolescent child molesters show evidence of more global social and psychological maladjustment than normal, they also appeared to be more socially incompetent than nonsex-offending delinquents. As a group, the molesters reported more problems with loneliness, assertiveness, social anxiety, negative evaluation, self-consciousness, depression, and low self-esteem. In short, they perceived social situations as threatening, doubted their ability to perform well in them, and expressed a good deal of personal dissatisfaction. Molesters also differed from delinquents on measures of social distress and their perception of heterosocial relationships. They seemed more easily threatened by male-female relationships compared to the self-assurance expressed by most delinquents. 4 tables and 25 references (Author abstract modified)