A Preliminary Examination of Racial Differences in Trauma and Sexual Aggression Among Adolescent Sexual Abusers

Abstract

The differences in victimization and sexual abuse perpetrated by two groups of youths-African American (n = 110) and Caucasian (n = 57)-were compared in a sample of adolescent males residing in residential institutions. The youths were broken into subgroups by adjudication status and race for the analyses.After assessing for differences between the groups on social desirability and time in treatment, a number of small racial differences emerged on the youths' trauma or sexually abusive behavior. In the non-adjudicated subgroup Caucasian youths had higher physical neglect and emotional abuse scores. When analyzing the characteristics of the youths' sexual victimization, the non-adjudicated subgroup of Caucasian youths was more likely to experience incest than the African American youths. Finally, in examining differences between the youths on the characteristics of sexually abusive behaviors, Caucasian youths in the adjudicated subgroup were more likely to commit penetrative acts, with none of the Caucasian youths admitting to anything less serious than the penetration of their victims.Possible explanations for these differences are offered, including methodological explanations, the values around family present within the Smith

An Exploration of Racial Differences in Deviant Sexual Interests Among Male Adolescent Sexual Offenders

“…The finding that African American male adolescent sexual offenders were less likely to have been sexually abused is supported by prior research (Burton & Meezan, 2008;Murphy et al, 2001). High levels of religiosity (Brown, Orbuch, & Bauermeister, 2008;Hunt & Hunt, 2001), the significance of extended familial (Randolph, 1995), and church-based social networks (Mattis, 2005) within diverse African American cultures may account for protective factors that prevent higher rates of sexual abuse.…”

“…A history of child sexual victimization is found more often amongst juvenile sex offenders than non-sex offenders (Epperson, Ralston, Fowers, DeWitt, & Gore, 2006) yet when compared with Caucasians, African Americans are less likely to have histories of sexual abuse (Burton & Meezan, 2008;Murphy, DiLillo, Haynes, & Steere, 2001). Perhaps this is a partial explanation for lower rates of sexual offense among African Americans.…”

“…Not only have adjudicated African American youth committed fewer penetrative sexual assaults in comparison to Caucasian youth within the same adjudicated group (Burton & Meezan, 2008), but African American youth show significantly lower sexual response in plethysmography assessment than Caucasian youth when exposed to audio stimuli of varying scenarios of sexually deviant actions narrated by a Caucasian adult male (Murphy et al, 2001, p. 96) or the Abel screen (personal communication with Gene Abel, January 2010). Sexual deviancy is a strong predictor of sexual offense recidivism (Worling & Curwen, 2001).…”

Intra- and Extra-Familial Victimization Experiences: Differentiating Between Incarcerated Serious Youth Offenders and Youth Rapists

“…The findings revealed that youth with family forced sex experiences were predictive of membership in the rapist category. Although research shows that victimization experiences (Hutton & Whyte, 2006; McMackin, Leisen, Cusack, LaFratta, & Litwin, 2002), particularly sexual victimization (Burton, 2008; Burton, Duty, & Leibowitz, 2011; Mallie, Viljoen, Mordell, Spice, & Roesch, 2011), have been studied as a precarious correlate to youth sexual offending (Burton, Leibowitz, Eldredge, Ryan, & Compton, 2011; Burton & Meezan, 2007; Seto & Lalumière, 2010), it may be important to distinguish the severity of the sexual victimization (i.e., forced sexual victimization relative to non-force) in assessing offending typologies. As this study shows, sexual victimization reduced risk for membership in the rapist category; yet, forced sex dramatically increased risk, which was further exacerbated within the context of the family.…”

Sexual abuse of children and youth in residential care: An international review

“…The ethnic background of victims, and of perpetrators, has attracted remarkably little attention in the research literature. One of the few articles on this subject was published by Burton & Meezan in 2007. Their study of young people in three juvenile custodial institutions in the US found no difference between black and white adolescents when it came to being the victim of sexual abuse, with over half of both groups having themselves experienced sexual abuse.…”