Psychosocial Correlates of Male Sexual Aggression in a Chronic Delinquent Sample

• NCJ Number: 172291
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1997) Pages: 71-95
• Author(s): S Spaccerelli; B Bowden; J D Coatsworth; S Kim
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 25 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Psychosocial correlates of sexual aggression were studied in 210 chronic juvenile delinquents, including 24 arrested juvenile sex offenders, 26 self-reported juvenile sex offenders, 106 violent juveniles who had not committed sex offenses, and 54 controls who were low-violence delinquents.

Abstract

Theory and previous research have suggested that sexual aggression in juveniles is associated with past sexual victimization, deficits in social competence, and high levels of neurotic symptoms. This study tested these and other variables using standardized interview measures of the history of sexual victimization, physical abuse, and domestic assault. The participants had all been committed to the diagnostic unit of the Arizona Department of Youth Treatment and Rehabilitation between February 1993 and February 1994. Parents and guardians were first contacted for consent. The participants completed the self-administered interview in a private room with the supervision of a research assistant. Results revealed that arrests and self-reported juvenile sex offenders differed only with respect to sexual victimization; arrested offenders were more likely than the others to report victimization by a male perpetrator. The combined sex offender group differed from the low-violence control group on several variables. The sex offender group reported greater exposure to serious physical abuse, greater exposure to domestic violence involving weapons, attitudes more accepting of sexual and physical aggression, and more use of aggressive control-seeking in response to stress. Findings suggested that approximately 20 percent of serious violent offenders with out records of sex offenses may be sexually aggressive and that these youths are similar to arrested sex offenders on the variables studied. Findings also suggested the need to consider rehabilitation problems that combine sex offenders and other violent offenders in treatment interventions focusing on addressing their specific characteristics. Tables and 47 references (Author abstract modified)