More knowledge is needed about the etiology and treatment needs of adolescent sex offenders. The current study compared adolescents who had offended against children (defined as below the age of 12 and at least 5 years younger than the adolescent), adolescents who have offended against peers or adults, and adolescents who had victims in both age groups. Based on Seto and Lalumière's meta-analytic findings, participants were compared on theoretically derived factors, including childhood sexual abuse, atypical sexual interests, sexual experience, social competence, psychiatric history, and general delinquency factors (past criminal history, substance abuse history, and offense characteristics). The study sample consisted of 162 court-referred male adolescent sexual offenders aged 12 to 17 years. Of the six identified domains, groups significantly differed on five of them; the exceptions were variables reflecting social competence. The results further support the validity of distinguishing adolescent sex offenders by victim age.

This article presents an evaluation of a community policing program designed to increase youths' positive attitudes toward the police. A total of 45 youth attended the program and were surveyed at 3 time points: before program commencement, after program completion, and after a 4-month follow-up time period. Four program outcomes were examined: global attitudes toward the police, perception of the police, distributive justice of the police, and perception of police discrimination. Overall, participation in the program was effective in reducing perceptions of police discrimination and increasing attitudes toward the police among all youth. Findings also support the program as a remedial intervention for youth with past negative encounters with the police. The evaluation is discussed in the context of promoting the successful implementation of future community policing programs targeted toward at-risk youth.

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Pedophilia refers to the recurrent, intense sexual interest in prepubescent children who, by definition, have not developed any secondary sex characteristics. Researchers have begun to investigate whether persons with pedophilia are qualitatively different from those without pedophilia (pedophilia is a taxon) or if people vary in their level of sexual interest toward children (pedophilia is dimensional). Two relatively small studies have previously attempted to address this question, but produced conflicting results. The present study built on these studies with a substantially larger sample of 2,227 men who committed sexual offenses and were assessed at a sexual behavior clinic. The present study also examined a broader range of measures more closely approximating the diagnostic criteria for pedophilic disorder, including phallometric assessment of sexual arousal patterns. The results of 3 taxometric analyses did not find support for the assertion that pedophilia is a taxon. (PsycINFO Database Record

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