Deviant Sexual Behavior in Children and Young Adolescents: Frequency and Patterns

Abstract

A descriptive statistical study was performed to assess the characteristics of youth who began committing sexual offenses in childhood. The youth in this study ranged in age from 12 to 15. They had been committed to the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice for sexual offenses and met the criteria for residential sexual offender treatment. Three instruments were used in this study. A questionnaire was independently administered to each youth by an examiner and corroborated, when possible, by information in the youth's file. The questionnaire was supplemented by the Hare Psychopathy Scale—Revised and by information from the Risk Assessment Interviewing Protocol for Adolescent Sex Offenders. The results suggested that deviant sexual behavior may begin in early childhood, with some offenders developing patterns of offending prior to the onset of adolescence. These youth committed a median of 69.5 sexual offenses each, with each offender having a median of 16.5 victims. They used either force, threats, or violence in the large majority of their contact offenses. They predominantly came from multiproblematic families, were abused in early childhood, and were exposed to pornographic materials at a young age. The results suggest that children have the capacity to commit serious sexual offenses similar to those of older juvenile and adult offenders. The clinical implications of this study are discussed.

Sexual behaviour, debut and identity among Swedish Schoolchildren

“…The children did not present many sexualized or problematic sexual behaviours. These results are well in line with earlier research that claims that problematic sexual behaviours or sexualized behaviours are rare in a normative population but can be seen among children with underlying emotional problems or as a precursor to sexual offending (Dahle et al 2010;Friedrish et al, 1992;Larsson & Svedin, 2001;Wiekowski, Hartsoe, Mayer & Shortz, 1998). Examples of uncommon or problematic sexual behaviour are, for example, sexual play between children accompanied by anger, fear or anxiety (Bonner, Walker & Berliner, 1999), sexual play that is potentially physically and/or emotionally harmful to self or others, developmentally inappropriate knowledge or sexual activities, sexual play that involves genital and/or mouth contact (Silovsky & Bonner, 2003).…”

“…A problematic sexualized behaviour may be a precursor to sexual offending (Wiekowski, Hartsoe, Mayer & Shortz, 1998) or a sign of underlying emotional problems (Friedrich et al, 1992). The escalating concern about childhood sexual abuse during the past 20 years has evoked a tendency to view any sexual expression in children as evidence that a sexual violation must have occurred (Reynolds, Herbenick & Bancroft, 2003).…”

Sexual interest in children, child sexual abuse, and psychological sequelae for children

“…There is evidence that some juveniles begin a pattern of committing sexual offenses against others prior to the onset of adolescence (Gray, Pithers, Busconi, & Houchens, 1999;Pithers & Gray, 1998;Wieckowski, Hartsoe, Mayer, & Shortz, 1998). In fact, approximately 40% of all reported child sexual victimization is perpetrated by individuals under 20 years of age.…”

“…Clearly, some adolescents and children engage in inappropriate sexual behaviors with other minors. Further, there is evidence of the cyclical nature of such conduct, that is, some minors who are victims of sexual abuse sexually victimize other minors (Marshall, 1997;Wieckowski, Hartsoe, Mayer, & Shortz, 1998).…”

Sexuell übergriffiges und aggressives Verhalten im Kindesalter Einflüsse entwicklungsrelevanter Faktoren

“…Dies entspricht den Zahlen (91%) einer Studie von Wieckowski et al [21], die eine von der Alters-, Intelligenzund Deliktstruktur vergleichbare Population (N = 30) sexuell übergriffiger Jungen untersucht haben. In unserer Stichprobe sind 58.7% der Opfer männlich.…”