International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, Jan 29, 2015
Child sexual abuse is considered a risk factor for the development of sexual offending in adolesc... more Child sexual abuse is considered a risk factor for the development of sexual offending in adolescence. Beyond this, comparisons of the risk factor profiles between adolescent sex offenders (ASOs) and adolescent non-sex offenders (ANSOs) have uncovered minimal differences. However, differences between ASOs and ANSOs in terms of patterns in the abuse histories of their family members have rarely been studied. The aim in the current study was to retrospectively examine histories of abuse among family members of ASOs compared with ANSOs to determine whether and how these were related to youth abuse experiences and sexual offending in adolescence. The current study is based on a sample of 482 incarcerated male adolescents (ASOs = 67, ANSOs = 415). Latent class analysis was conducted to determine multidimensional familial abuse profiles, and a series of logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between family abuse profiles, youth abuse experiences, and adolescent s...
Currently, minimal research has been conducted worldwide on the phenomenon of child sexual abuse ... more Currently, minimal research has been conducted worldwide on the phenomenon of child sexual abuse in youth-oriented institutions, despite increasing number of accounts that are coming to the attention of authorities and the wider public on these sex crimes. Addressing the lack of research on these offenders and how they offend is critical in developing evidence-based knowledge that can better guide effective policies. One key reason for this lack of evidence is that access to these offenders is difficult to acquire in the first place. Indeed, it is likely that relatively few of these offenders have ever been identified (ie only those who have been caught) and those offenders who are caught are subject to intense media scrutiny, making these individuals apprehensive about participating in any research. In addition, current evidence suggests that a relatively small proportion of these offenders are responsible for offending against a disproportionately high number of victims (eg Erooga...
Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment, Jan 20, 2015
The current study examines offending trajectories of adolescent sexual offenders (ASOs). Until re... more The current study examines offending trajectories of adolescent sexual offenders (ASOs). Until recently, classification frameworks have not been designed to account for the heterogeneity of offending patterns in adolescence, how these are associated with the unfolding of sexual and non-sexual criminal activity, and whether and to what extent they are related to the characteristics of sex offenses in adolescence. The current study takes a longitudinal view of offending in adolescence by examining retrospective longitudinal data of 217 ASOs referred for treatment to a clinical service between 2001 and 2009 in Australia. General offending trajectories in adolescence were examined using semi-parametric group-based modeling, and compared according to non-violent non-sexual, violent-non-sexual, and sex offending criminal activity parameters (e.g., participation, onset, frequency, specialization/versatility) and the characteristics of the referral sexual offense. The results show distinct ...
International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, Jan 18, 2014
Most criminal justice responses to address sexual violence and abuse against children are aimed a... more Most criminal justice responses to address sexual violence and abuse against children are aimed at identifying and incarcerating offenders or at best, trying to prevent them from reoffending. This policy situation, primarily characterized by tertiary intervention strategies, is exacerbated by a lack of evidence-based knowledge about the circumstances in which this phenomenon occurs. This specific information can inform certain types of primary and secondary prevention strategies. In this study, we are taking the first steps to address this situation by (a) organising and reviewing for the first time the empirical knowledge on this phenomenon according to questions asked by environmental criminologists and crime analysts, that is, the who, what, where, when, and how this phenomenon occurs, and (b) discussing directions for future research. By engaging in this exercise, we argue that environmental criminology can substantially contribute to understanding and informing prevention pract...
Recent studies suggest that sexual aggressors of women are characterized by early- and late-onset... more Recent studies suggest that sexual aggressors of women are characterized by early- and late-onset antisocial trajectories. However, these studies have not examined the role of mating effort and its role on sexual offending in adulthood. This study examined differences in the level of mating effort of early- and late-onset offenders and the association between mating effort and sexual offending in adulthood. Factor analysis identified two latent constructs of sexuality: mating effort and high sexual drive. Early-onset offenders exhibited significantly higher levels of mating effort and sexual drive. Furthermore, high mating effort and high sexual drive were more strongly associated with an earlier onset and a higher frequency of sexual crimes in adulthood than group membership. This study provided empirical evidence that a developmental taxonomy of early and late onset distinguishes the sexual activity and sexual criminal activity of adult sexual aggressors. The findings are discussed in light of a developmental taxonomy of sexual aggressors of women.
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 2009
Recent explanatory models of sexual aggression of women have emphasized the role of an antisocial... more Recent explanatory models of sexual aggression of women have emphasized the role of an antisocial tendency in explaining sexual aggression. If those models agree about the importance of an antisocial propensity, they disagree about the presence of a single or multiple pathways leading to sexual aggression. Currently, no empirical studies have examined within-individual changes of antisocial behavior in youth of sexual aggressors of women and whether those changes are related to the unfolding of the sexual and nonsexual criminal activity in adulthood. This study examines the presence of antisocial trajectories in childhood and adolescence using a sample of 209 convicted adult sexual aggressors of women. A dynamic classification procedure using cluster analyses yields five distinct antisocial trajectories, which are then compared using analysis of covariance on various parameters of criminal activity in adulthood. The results highlight the heterogeneity of antisocial development in youth of adult sexual aggressors of women. Patterns of initiation, persistence, and escalation in youth are related to the general, violent, and sexual offending in adulthood.
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 2012
Currently, a majority of actuarial risk-assessment tools for sexual recidivism contain static ris... more Currently, a majority of actuarial risk-assessment tools for sexual recidivism contain static risk factors that measure various aspects of the offender's prior criminal history in adulthood. The goal of the current study was to assess the utility of extending static risk factors, by using developmental and criminal career parameters of offending, in the actuarial assessment of risk of violent/sexual recidivism. The current study was based on a sample of 204 convicted sexual aggressors of women incarcerated in the province of Quebec, Canada between April 1994 and June 2000. Semistructured interviews were used to gather information on the offender's antisocial history prior to adulthood, and police records were used to collect data on the criminal career of these offenders in adulthood. For an average follow-up period of approximately 4 years, the violent/sexual recidivism rate for the sample was 23.7%. The results provided support for the inclusion of both developmental and criminal career indicators for the prediction of violent/sexual recidivism. More specifically, recidivists were characterized by an early onset antisocial trajectory and a pattern of escalation of antisocial behavior between childhood and adolescence. The findings suggest that risk assessors should look beyond broad adult criminal history data to include aspects of antisocial development to improve predictive accuracy.
ABSTRACT The aim of the current study was to address a largely overlooked aspect of the lives of ... more ABSTRACT The aim of the current study was to address a largely overlooked aspect of the lives of sexual offenders, that is, their non-criminal sexual lifestyles. Traditionally, clinical research on these men has had a strong focus on their development of deviant sexuality and its causes and relationship with sexual offending. Beyond this specific developmental pathway, however, minimal research has examined the development and correlates of their non-criminal sexual lifestyles to provide an analogous picture of how they develop sexually. The current study examined sexual victimization experiences in childhood and the non-criminal sexual lifestyles in adulthood of 546 incarcerated sexual offenders. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to examine the link between childhood sexual victimization and adult sexual lifestyles. Next, multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the nature of this relationship between different types of sexual offenders. The results indicated that while childhood sexual victimization was related to aspects of non-criminal sexual lifestyles, this relationship differed for types of offenders, providing alternative insight into the sexual lifestyles of these men.
Several policies have been implemented to manage the risk of sex offenders in the community. Thes... more Several policies have been implemented to manage the risk of sex offenders in the community. These policies, however, tend to target older repeat sex offenders. This is the first study to examine and describe the offending trajectories of adult sex offenders from early adolescence to adulthood. The current study is based on a quasipopulation of convicted adult sex offenders in
... Jesse Cale,1 Darryl Plecas,1 Irwin M. Cohen,1 and Stephanie Fortier2 ... This was consistent ... more ... Jesse Cale,1 Darryl Plecas,1 Irwin M. Cohen,1 and Stephanie Fortier2 ... This was consistent with the consid-erable literature that substantiated the link between childhood maltreatment and mental disorders (Duran et al., 2004), substance abuse (Widom, Weiler, & Cottler, 1999 ...
International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, Jan 29, 2015
Child sexual abuse is considered a risk factor for the development of sexual offending in adolesc... more Child sexual abuse is considered a risk factor for the development of sexual offending in adolescence. Beyond this, comparisons of the risk factor profiles between adolescent sex offenders (ASOs) and adolescent non-sex offenders (ANSOs) have uncovered minimal differences. However, differences between ASOs and ANSOs in terms of patterns in the abuse histories of their family members have rarely been studied. The aim in the current study was to retrospectively examine histories of abuse among family members of ASOs compared with ANSOs to determine whether and how these were related to youth abuse experiences and sexual offending in adolescence. The current study is based on a sample of 482 incarcerated male adolescents (ASOs = 67, ANSOs = 415). Latent class analysis was conducted to determine multidimensional familial abuse profiles, and a series of logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between family abuse profiles, youth abuse experiences, and adolescent s...
Currently, minimal research has been conducted worldwide on the phenomenon of child sexual abuse ... more Currently, minimal research has been conducted worldwide on the phenomenon of child sexual abuse in youth-oriented institutions, despite increasing number of accounts that are coming to the attention of authorities and the wider public on these sex crimes. Addressing the lack of research on these offenders and how they offend is critical in developing evidence-based knowledge that can better guide effective policies. One key reason for this lack of evidence is that access to these offenders is difficult to acquire in the first place. Indeed, it is likely that relatively few of these offenders have ever been identified (ie only those who have been caught) and those offenders who are caught are subject to intense media scrutiny, making these individuals apprehensive about participating in any research. In addition, current evidence suggests that a relatively small proportion of these offenders are responsible for offending against a disproportionately high number of victims (eg Erooga...
Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment, Jan 20, 2015
The current study examines offending trajectories of adolescent sexual offenders (ASOs). Until re... more The current study examines offending trajectories of adolescent sexual offenders (ASOs). Until recently, classification frameworks have not been designed to account for the heterogeneity of offending patterns in adolescence, how these are associated with the unfolding of sexual and non-sexual criminal activity, and whether and to what extent they are related to the characteristics of sex offenses in adolescence. The current study takes a longitudinal view of offending in adolescence by examining retrospective longitudinal data of 217 ASOs referred for treatment to a clinical service between 2001 and 2009 in Australia. General offending trajectories in adolescence were examined using semi-parametric group-based modeling, and compared according to non-violent non-sexual, violent-non-sexual, and sex offending criminal activity parameters (e.g., participation, onset, frequency, specialization/versatility) and the characteristics of the referral sexual offense. The results show distinct ...
International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, Jan 18, 2014
Most criminal justice responses to address sexual violence and abuse against children are aimed a... more Most criminal justice responses to address sexual violence and abuse against children are aimed at identifying and incarcerating offenders or at best, trying to prevent them from reoffending. This policy situation, primarily characterized by tertiary intervention strategies, is exacerbated by a lack of evidence-based knowledge about the circumstances in which this phenomenon occurs. This specific information can inform certain types of primary and secondary prevention strategies. In this study, we are taking the first steps to address this situation by (a) organising and reviewing for the first time the empirical knowledge on this phenomenon according to questions asked by environmental criminologists and crime analysts, that is, the who, what, where, when, and how this phenomenon occurs, and (b) discussing directions for future research. By engaging in this exercise, we argue that environmental criminology can substantially contribute to understanding and informing prevention pract...
Recent studies suggest that sexual aggressors of women are characterized by early- and late-onset... more Recent studies suggest that sexual aggressors of women are characterized by early- and late-onset antisocial trajectories. However, these studies have not examined the role of mating effort and its role on sexual offending in adulthood. This study examined differences in the level of mating effort of early- and late-onset offenders and the association between mating effort and sexual offending in adulthood. Factor analysis identified two latent constructs of sexuality: mating effort and high sexual drive. Early-onset offenders exhibited significantly higher levels of mating effort and sexual drive. Furthermore, high mating effort and high sexual drive were more strongly associated with an earlier onset and a higher frequency of sexual crimes in adulthood than group membership. This study provided empirical evidence that a developmental taxonomy of early and late onset distinguishes the sexual activity and sexual criminal activity of adult sexual aggressors. The findings are discussed in light of a developmental taxonomy of sexual aggressors of women.
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 2009
Recent explanatory models of sexual aggression of women have emphasized the role of an antisocial... more Recent explanatory models of sexual aggression of women have emphasized the role of an antisocial tendency in explaining sexual aggression. If those models agree about the importance of an antisocial propensity, they disagree about the presence of a single or multiple pathways leading to sexual aggression. Currently, no empirical studies have examined within-individual changes of antisocial behavior in youth of sexual aggressors of women and whether those changes are related to the unfolding of the sexual and nonsexual criminal activity in adulthood. This study examines the presence of antisocial trajectories in childhood and adolescence using a sample of 209 convicted adult sexual aggressors of women. A dynamic classification procedure using cluster analyses yields five distinct antisocial trajectories, which are then compared using analysis of covariance on various parameters of criminal activity in adulthood. The results highlight the heterogeneity of antisocial development in youth of adult sexual aggressors of women. Patterns of initiation, persistence, and escalation in youth are related to the general, violent, and sexual offending in adulthood.
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 2012
Currently, a majority of actuarial risk-assessment tools for sexual recidivism contain static ris... more Currently, a majority of actuarial risk-assessment tools for sexual recidivism contain static risk factors that measure various aspects of the offender's prior criminal history in adulthood. The goal of the current study was to assess the utility of extending static risk factors, by using developmental and criminal career parameters of offending, in the actuarial assessment of risk of violent/sexual recidivism. The current study was based on a sample of 204 convicted sexual aggressors of women incarcerated in the province of Quebec, Canada between April 1994 and June 2000. Semistructured interviews were used to gather information on the offender's antisocial history prior to adulthood, and police records were used to collect data on the criminal career of these offenders in adulthood. For an average follow-up period of approximately 4 years, the violent/sexual recidivism rate for the sample was 23.7%. The results provided support for the inclusion of both developmental and criminal career indicators for the prediction of violent/sexual recidivism. More specifically, recidivists were characterized by an early onset antisocial trajectory and a pattern of escalation of antisocial behavior between childhood and adolescence. The findings suggest that risk assessors should look beyond broad adult criminal history data to include aspects of antisocial development to improve predictive accuracy.
ABSTRACT The aim of the current study was to address a largely overlooked aspect of the lives of ... more ABSTRACT The aim of the current study was to address a largely overlooked aspect of the lives of sexual offenders, that is, their non-criminal sexual lifestyles. Traditionally, clinical research on these men has had a strong focus on their development of deviant sexuality and its causes and relationship with sexual offending. Beyond this specific developmental pathway, however, minimal research has examined the development and correlates of their non-criminal sexual lifestyles to provide an analogous picture of how they develop sexually. The current study examined sexual victimization experiences in childhood and the non-criminal sexual lifestyles in adulthood of 546 incarcerated sexual offenders. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to examine the link between childhood sexual victimization and adult sexual lifestyles. Next, multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the nature of this relationship between different types of sexual offenders. The results indicated that while childhood sexual victimization was related to aspects of non-criminal sexual lifestyles, this relationship differed for types of offenders, providing alternative insight into the sexual lifestyles of these men.
Several policies have been implemented to manage the risk of sex offenders in the community. Thes... more Several policies have been implemented to manage the risk of sex offenders in the community. These policies, however, tend to target older repeat sex offenders. This is the first study to examine and describe the offending trajectories of adult sex offenders from early adolescence to adulthood. The current study is based on a quasipopulation of convicted adult sex offenders in
... Jesse Cale,1 Darryl Plecas,1 Irwin M. Cohen,1 and Stephanie Fortier2 ... This was consistent ... more ... Jesse Cale,1 Darryl Plecas,1 Irwin M. Cohen,1 and Stephanie Fortier2 ... This was consistent with the consid-erable literature that substantiated the link between childhood maltreatment and mental disorders (Duran et al., 2004), substance abuse (Widom, Weiler, & Cottler, 1999 ...
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