NCJ Number
219746
Journal
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment Volume: 19 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2007 Pages: 107-113
Date Published
June 2007
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study compared the recidivism rates of a sample of 249 juvenile sexual offenders with a sample of 1,780 non-sexual offending juveniles.
Abstract
Results indicated no significant difference in prevalence of new sexual offenses between the two groups of juvenile offenders. Specifically, the recidivism rate for new sex offenders among juvenile sex offenders was 6.8 percent compared to 5.7 percent for the nonsexual juvenile offenders. However, juvenile sex offenders were almost 10 times more likely to have been charged with a nonsexual offense than a sexual offense. Moreover, a full 85 percent of the new sexual offenses occurring during the 5-year followup period were committed by the nonsexual offending juveniles. None of the 54 homicides that occurred during the study period were committed by a juvenile sex offender, although 3 of the homicides were sexual in nature. The findings suggest that policies targeting juvenile sex offenders for increased supervision may be misguided since it appears the bulk of community sexual violence involves individuals not previously designated as sexual offenders. Data on 2,029 male juvenile delinquents released from secured institutions between 1998 and 2000 were drawn from open records. Data were collected on recidivism over a 5-year followup period, which were subsequently categorized as sexual or nonsexual recidivism. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Table, figure, references