Efficacy of Sexual Offender Treatment: Juvenile Sexual Offenders with Mental Health Diagnosis

Roughly 79.4% of adolescent sex offenders experienced sexual abuse while only 46.7% of nonsexual offenders reported abuse (Burton, Miller, & Shills, 2002).

     Cohen, Seghorn, and Calmas (1969) described three types of child molesters derived from their clinical studies. One type had a history of relatively normal functioning and the incident of molestation appears to reflect a reaction to a severe threat to their sense of sexual adequacy. Another type had a history of poor social-sexual functioning and is regarded as primitive and immature in terms of social-sexual skills. The last type they found in their study had offenses involving cruel and vicious assaults on children and the act of molestation is regarded as more aggressive then sexual. (Mc Creary, 1975)

Sexual assault is one of the fastest growing violent crimes in America. Approximately 20% of all people charged with a sexual offense are juveniles. Among adult sex offenders, almost 50% report that their first offense occurred during their adolescence. (FBI, 1993) There are many different opinions, treatment options and legislation to manage the growing numbers of juvenile sex offenders. In today’s society the psychological and behavioral modification treatments used to manage juvenile sex offenders is also a growing concern. To understand and determine the proposed treatment methods, several related issues will need to be reviewed such as traditional sex offender therapy methods like cognitive therapy and alternative therapies like

In this time period, there are many different disorders and illnesses that go unnoticed, and unknown. Society creates stereotypes about illnesses such as obsessive compulsive disorder, clinical Depression, and many other mental afflictions. Another that seems to remain controversial and misunderstood is sexual compulsive behaviors. Many see it as an excuse to act a certain way, or think a certain way; in reality it is a serious mental disorder that can cause devastating effects on the people that are consumed by them and the people who are around them. Something that is however, known about sexual compulsive behaviors is that there are certain things that can emotionally damage a person and cause them to have these behaviors. The three

Sex offenders are described as a person who commits a crime involving a sexual act. They are people convicted for sexual crime in a criminal court. Sex offenders make a high percentage of the offender population and are considered special circumstance offenders. Sex offenders typically use sex as a coping mechanism. Juvenile sex offenders are those age from adolescences to an adult, who committed a sexual act without consent both physically and verbally.

As time progresses on, more reports of child sexual abuse (CSA) have been documented. According to Colangelo and Cooperman, CSA is defined as “the use of a child under 18 years of age as an object of gratification for adult sexual needs and desires.” Another definition of CSA is “sexual abuse [that] occurs whenever one person dominates and exploits another by means of sexual activity or suggestion.” (Hall, M., & Hall, J., 2011) it is difficult to

Conceive of an 11-year-old Caucasian male with compulsive sexual behavior. He comes into unwanted, sexual contact with infantile females, expressing extreme curiosity with their bodies. He is at risk for residential placement. He wants to practice positive adolescent sexuality. For this reason, he requires an intervention that will prevent and deter his sexually maladaptive behaviors.

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia have higher rates of mental illness and sexual offending, for example, incest offenders had a much higher rate of psychosis when compared to homicidal sex offenders (Galloway & Houston, 2008). Personality disorders and sex offenders were characterized by pervasive affective instability, poor impulse control, impairment of self-identity and a tendency towards engaging in unstable relationships associated with emotional crises underpinned by a fear of abandonment (Galloway & Houston, 2008). Comorbid conditions seen in those with a diagnosis of voyeuristic disorder or exhibitionistic disorder in addition to the sex offense include hypersexuality, ADHD, conduct disorder, higher rates of depression and substance use disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). There are psychiatric comorbidity of pedophilic disorder they include substance use disorders, depression, bipolar, anxiety disorder, and

Assessing an adult for sexual recidivism can be a different type of work than evaluating a juvenile, and requires a different set of risk assessment tools. That being said, adult risk assessment tools initially, and continue to inform juvenile risk assessment tools, therefore, a foundational introduction to adult risk assessment is beneficial to better understand juvenile risk assessment (Christiansen & Vincent, 2013; Collie, Ward, & Vess, 2008; Prescott, 2004). Recognizing this need for some foundational understanding of risk assessment, The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) has set forth some guidelines for adult risk assessment.

With the Pandora’s Box opened, we may find ourselves forced to rediscover morality due to our natural tendencies. This does not mean accepting adult-child relationships. Figure 3 indicates if we are serious about protecting children, then that ultimately requires some level of understanding, which is a problem for most because that is dangerously close to compassion. On the contrary, the risk they pose is the very reason why we need to support pedophiles who do not want to become sex offenders. We all want the same thing. We do not want them to offend nor their potential victims to offend. In 2008, Michael Seto, a forensic psychologist, published a book stating that the onset of pedophilia is right around the stages of puberty, as with any other sexual orientation. I believe we can prevent a greater number of victims if we put more energy into early detection and providing support before the first offense occurs, rather than solely relying on punishment after the fact. We need to be thinking about the children that pedophiles once were and catch them at their vulnerable stages, which are during puberty. There we can find a sense of compassion and support to want to help. In 2014, Margo Kaplan, an associate professor at Rutgers School of Law, wrote an op-ed in New York Times stating that pedophilia is neurologically rooted, supporting Cantor’s research.

Sex offenders tend to blend in to society virtually unnoticed until they offend or reoffend (Polizzi, MacKenzie, & Hickman, 1999). Currently, there is a large group of mental health professionals representing a variety of disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry clinical social work, counseling, and medicine, that continue to believe in the potential efficacy of treating sex offenders. Over the past decade, the sex offender treatment field has grown rapidly and the treatment of juvenile sex offenders is on the rise (Parks & Bard, 2006). The rationale for treating juvenile offenders is based on research which indicates that inappropriate sexual behavior patterns develop early and a failure to intervene and change behavior early often means that the offender will continue to escalate his/her inappropriate behavior, which could present an even greater danger to society (Ayland & West, 2006). Vivian-Bryne, (2004) suggests that professionals who treat adult sex offenders report that offenders who are incarcerated will eventually return to the community and therefore, therapeutic measures should be taken to reduce the likelihood that they will reoffend even if those measures have not conclusively been identified as effective. Sexual offenders may find therapy valuable because it can allow them to retrace their upbringing to help them identify and understand the roots of their

Stories of sex offenders have been increasingly a focus of attention by the criminal justice system over the past years. By legal definition, a sex offender “is a person who is convicted of a sexual offense (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition),” an act which is prohibited by the jurisdiction. What constitutes as a sex offense or normal/abnormal sexual behavior varies over time and place, meaning that it also varies by legal jurisdiction and culture. In the United States of America, for example, a person can be convicted of wide range of sexual behavior that includes prostitution, incest, sex with a minor, rape, and other sex offenses (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition). As the nature of sex crimes have long held the

defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - Fifth Edition, which is usually used to diagnose addictive disorders (De Guzman et al., 2016). However, sexual behavior might qualify as an addiction if it involves compulsive behaviors, a preoccupation with the behavior, increased amounts of time spent having sex or engaging in a sex behavior in order to feel a desired way, and persistent behaviors that occur even if the person wants to stop them, or they are having harmful effects on the person's daily life (Dependence criteria, 2000). Many paraphilias, however, would not qualify as a sexual addiction; for example, someone with a fetish might enjoy sex more when they can engage in it, but they would not necessarily be preoccupied with it,

Pedophilia is an ever growing problem in the United States, and is on an increase sense the new age of technology. Pedophilic disorder is diagnosed according to the DSM-5 as when an adult derives sexual gratification through contact with children or the want to have sexual conduct with a child which may cause that person severe distress. Criteria for this disorder is very specific to ages, it states that that person has to be at least 16 years old (not legal adult age) and must be at least five years older than the child. The criteria also states that for at least six months the person must have recurrent and intense sexual arousing and other things of that nature. The person has acted on his or her urges as well. A person who has

Most people consider pedophiles to be anyone who has committed a sex offense against a child and that all pedophiles will commit this offense. In both cases that is, at best, a half truth. The DSM-5, which is a tool that outlines the diagnostic criteria for a given disorder, defines pedophilic disorder as, “a paraphilia involving intense and recurrent sexual urges towards and fantasies about prepubescent children that have either been acted upon or which cause the person with the attraction distress or interpersonal difficulty.” With the latter half of this definition, we begin to open up to the idea that there are those who have sexual interests in children who have had no form of inappropriate contact with a child, but rather just have their daily life affected by the feelings that they are having toward