NCJ Number
220029
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 31 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2007 Pages: 683-689
Date Published
2007
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the problem of child molestation by adolescents and the recommended steps that adults can take to reduce child molestation by adolescents.
Abstract
The three steps to reducing child molestation by adolescents include: (1) talking to youth about the harm sexual abuse causes; (2) talking to youth about the dangers of dwelling on child orientated fantasies; and (3) intervening where at-risk youth exhibit warning signs. There has been little done to implement the recommendations because of the discomfort many adults feel when talking to youth about sexual issues; other objections are due to various religious and ethical reasons. The study found that official records in the United States related to sexual assaults reported to law enforcement in the 1990s revealed that juveniles were the perpetrators in 40 percent of cases involving victims age 6 and 39 percent of cases involving victims ages 6 through 11 (Snyder, 2000). Similar results were found in Canada by the Badgley Commission, and from a British victim study conducted by Glasgow, Horn, Calam, and Cox (1994) who found that 35 percent of perpetrators offending against children in Liverpool, England over a 12-month period were less than 18 years of age. The steps and additional warning signs in this article were written by a former adolescent and young child molester who successfully completed multiple treatment programs. References