...Annotated Bibliography: What the Literature Says About Juvenile Sex Offenders The following articles, factsheets, and studies have been compiled to assist attorneys and individuals working on behalf of youth charged with sexual offending. The information contained in these resources aim to help others realize the fundamental differences between adult sex offenders and juvenile sex offenders, which include positive responses of juveniles to treatment, low recidivism rates of juveniles and negative impact of registries on youth development. It is our hope that this information will be used to improve legal outcomes for juvenile sex offenders, and uphold the purpose of the juvenile justice system as a rehabilitative, not punitive, system. PUBLICATIONS BY TOPIC Recidivism Rates/Amenability to Treatment Judith V. Becker, What We Know About the Characteristics and Treatment of Adolescents Who have Committed Sexual Offenses, 3 CHILD MALTREATMENT 317, (1998). The author states that comprehensive data does not exist to support the notion that if adolescents commit one sexual offense, they will go on to develop a pattern of sexual-offending behaviors or develop a psychosocial disorder. Michael F. Caldwell et al., An Examination of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act as Applied to Juveniles: Evaluating the Ability to Predict Sexual Recidivism, 14 PSYCHOLOGY, PUBLIC POLICY AND LAW 89, (2008). This study compared 91 juvenile males who had been treated in a secure correctional...
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...While sexually deviant behavior among juveniles is not a new phenomenon there has been a dramatic increase in the concern of this problem over the last two decades. As the number of juvenile sex offenders arrested increases, the recognition of it as a serious issue also increases. The anxiety over juvenile sex crimes has led to a wide variety of research being conducted to determine if there are antecedent traits in offenders. The tremendous data collected and analyzed to try to understand the factors leading a juvenile to sexually violate has piloted a wide range of theories and also much disagreement among professionals about the appropriate consequences a violator must face. The basic uncertainty of who a juvenile sex offender is can often be difficult to resolve. The fact is that demographically almost anyone has the likelihood to be a youthful offender based on physical traits alone. Currently it is estimated that juveniles account for up to one-fifth of the rapes, and one-half of the cases of child molestation committed in the United States each year (USDJJD, 2000). Reaching a statistical strategy based on demographics is nearly impossible considering that juvenile sexual offending appears to cross racial and cultural boundaries, as well as have no significance in relationship to the religious preference of the perpetrator. It is also notable that you can find juvenile offenders in all socioeconomic class levels. The statistics provided by the United States Department...
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...Delinquency Women account for nearly eight to ten percent of the offending population (accounting for jails, prisons, community supervision, or a combination of these) (Hanser 2006: 329). In both men and women, there are a number of variables and precursors that lead to delinquency or criminal behavior, ranging from socioeconomic status to development, and may be understood and examined through the lens of multiple theories of crime. One variable in particular, the sexual maltreatment of young girls, could in fact be a major factor of female offending in adulthood. A study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 1999 found that female offenders are abused more frequently than male offenders. While only...
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...Title: Case study Word count: 2,300 Bandura’s (1977) core argument posits that human behaviour can be learnt vicariously by observing and imitating others behaviours, a process which he calls modelling (Wortley, 2011). He argues that social learning does not require only direct experiences as radical behaviourists of operant and classical conditioning suggest (Wortley, 2011). Bandura (1977) supports his argument with three reasons. The first is that behaviour is learned through observation (Cherry, 2013). The second is that cognitive mediation is an essential part of the learning process (Cherry, 2013). The third is that not all learned behaviour is repeated (Cherry, 2013). This is because unlike traditional behavioralists, Bandura (1977) views the internal mental processes as important as the external processes in learning (Moore, 2011). His reasoning for this is that the modelling process requires attention, retention, reproduction and motivation in order to acquire the behaviour and determines whether they instigate it and maintain it (Bahn, 2001). As such, Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory, later called social cognitive theory is built upon reciprocal determinism (Moore, 2011). He proposed the triadic SOR model, which shows how interpersonal factors; locus of control, self-efficacy and moral disengagement (organism), interact interchangeably with behaviour (response) and the environment (stimulus) (Simon, 1999/2001). This is an expansion upon the pre-existing...
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...the same level of punishment on adolescents and minors as we do on adults causes more harm than good. Instead of rehabilitating our younger generation for crimes they commit, we are hurting them by providing harsh punishments that they cannot come back from. The juvenile sex offender’s registry and notification laws are controversial and proponents of these laws feel they act as deterrents to future offending even though there is no evidence to support this claim. In many cases recidivism has decreased with the proper assessment and treatment. Our country has an overzealous sex crime legislation dating back to the 1880s. In the United States there are three types of legislation dealing with sex crimes. The first was pre-World War II when offenders were subjected to indefinite institutionalization and sterilization. These policies were jointly influenced by the fields of sexology and eugenics (Ordover, 2003). Sexologists promoted the view that minor forms of sexual misbehavior would predict future sexual violence and homicide (Jenkins, 1998), whereas eugenicists promoted the view that criminal behavior was genetically determined (Ordover, 2003). Both of these fields developed the view that sexual offending was considered intractable, resistant to change and escalating, therefore, new legislation was established to enact extreme interventions by institutionalization offenders. In order to keep society safe from future exposure and danger from an offender’s offspring thus forced...
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...essay also seek to explain the patterns of stability and change over the last third of the 20th century in women’s crimes of violence and the moral panics that explain violent criminality by women. Although boys engage in more delinquent and criminal acts than do girls, female delinquency is on the rise. In 1980, boys were four times as likely as girls to be arrested; today they are only twice as likely to be arrested. In this article, Elizabeth Cauffman explores how the juvenile justice system is and should be responding to the adolescent female offender Reasons why there is less research on female criminality? Smart (1976) stated that throughout history female violence or crime have has been neglected` in criminology theories. The studies show that females were documented to commit less crime, which resulted female offenders being simply conformed within the theoretical aspects of criminology. The fact that women, across most cultures committed far fewer crimes than men was not seriously addressed. There are several reasons: Female crimes were considered low compared to men. Secondly it been noted that vast majority of criminologist were men and their criminal justice theories were...
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...recidivism. Some believe that custodial sentencing is the best way of reducing re-offending, others think that prison may not be the solution and that there are better alternatives. There is also much debate about whether treatment programmes reduce re-offending. Discuss ways of dealing with the problem of recidivism, refer to the views outlined above in your answer. (12) Custodial sentencing is the imposing of a punishment, consisting of mandatory custody of the convict, either in prison (Incarceration) or in some other closed therapeutic/reducational institution. As recidivism refers to the re-offending rate, critics argue that custodial sentencing does not work and cite high recidivism rates as evidence for this. This is due to official statistics showing that 70% of offenders re-offend after custodial sentencing within 2 years of release, which consequently shows that prison may not be the solution. Even with high recidivism rates, custodial sentences might stop more crime than noncustodial sentences. These findings are inconsistent with prisons as a powerful specific deterrent (dwelling on actions/message goes out to the public) and high recidivism rates suggest that many offenders simply are not moved by imprisonment enough to stay out of trouble. On the other hand however, custodial sentencing has been proven to be a good solution as it has been found that not every type of offender re-offends, sex offenders have been found less likely to offend again, in contrast to those...
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...violation of confidentiality because the identities of the subjects have been revealed. Analysis and Reporting may also show ethic violations, because this also requires the identification of subjects to remain a secret. The researchers also violated ethics by gaining consent from the underage subjects instead of their parents. This is considered to be a special problem. Parents only receive a survey that assess changes in their child, and may not fully be aware of the project that they’re children are participating in. This could prove to be a legal issue in the event that harm is done to the child and the parent sues. In order to eliminate the violations, a few changes can be made. Parents should be given a form to read and sign. In most cases, parents are better at comprehending information than children. By giving consent parents can ensure that the project is safe, which decreases legal liability. To protect subjects, researchers should not disclose the identity of subjects. Instead, researchers should inform the entire school that a project is being done and they should follow the entire school, catching more footage of the subjects. This will help to conceal the identities of the subjects because no one will know who is actually a participant. Maintaining confidentiality helps to maintain the privacy of the juveniles and assist with analysis...
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...Families Background of the study In our epoch, divorces are among the most important social problems of modern society. According to recent studies, almost every second marriage in the United States ends with separation of the partners. Of course, many of such families have one or more young children and teenagers, who must learn to live with the problem of divorced parents. Actually, everybody who is involved in divorce has to suffer a lot, because the majority of the divorces are connected with scandals, constant confrontations, misunderstandings, humiliation and other negative effects. Of course, there are some situations when separation of the parents becomes a happy end of their relations and a relief for everybody in the family. But, unfortunately, those situations are very rare and not typical. That is why it is possible to say that the effects of the divorce on families are more likely to be negative and destructive than positive. The children are the ones that is affected through divorce they experience different emotions the way how they accept things. Children have those negative thoughts about divorce that can lead to misunderstanding and other quarrels. The emotional state of the children will be most affected by this the way they see their parents that not in good terms affects their emotional state. A lot of struggle will be happen when divorce came the different aspects of a family will be affected. There are different studies about this topic that i want...
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...Glass Castle”, it became clear that there were many repetitive factors that shaped the Walls family’s lives. There are numerous accounts of sexual abuse, parental alcoholism, evidence of mental illness and finally poverty in the form of homelessness. For even when the children prospered the parents choose to be homeless. The question is, are these factors relative? Can it be that childhood sexual abuse can inflict mental illness or alcoholism in adulthood? Does mental illness and alcoholism affect the chances of being homeless? The focus of this essay is to provide evidence that the events in Walls own life, documented in her memoir, have a butterfly effect in the outcome of their parent’s lives. In Her memoir Walls documents several cases of sexual abuse during her and her sibling’s childhood. She writes of her own experiences with Billy Deel, although he is only a minor as well, he sexually assaults her during a game of hide and seek. PAGE 85-87 Afterward Jeanette was reluctant to tell her father, “I had a feeling it would cause problems” (Walls 87) The second assault Walls documents, was when she was nine years old. “I was awakened by someone running his hands over my private parts.” “‘I just want to play a game with you’ a man’s voice said.” The next day when they told their father, “he said he was going to kill that low life…” Although, no serious action was taken to find him or prevent it from happening again. (Walls 103) The third offense took place while Jeanette...
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...chivalry hypothesis. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of the literature and empirical research regarding past and present studies of female offenders, the chivalry hypothesis, the differences in male and female convictions, and to answer the enduring question: Is chivalry dead? While this paper does not incorporate all of the literature available, it does offer a good snap shot of many pertinent studies conducted regarding these topics and the issues pertaining to them. Female Offenders Then and Now Over the years, the empirical evidence supporting the position that women offenders are treated less harshly than their male counterparts has been at best inconsistent. (Burnett, 1994: Coombs, 1995: Denno, 1994: Johnson & Nagel, 1994: Klein & Kress, 2014). The writers of these studies used a variety of theses to explain the leniency. Some suggested women are treated with chivalry and thus given lighter sentences for similar offenses created by men. While others suggested the leniency was due to the majority of females in the court system are first time offenders. In 1994, Kathleen Davy published Gender, Crime and Punishment. In the book she explores whether men and women who are convicted of similar crimes, are punished differently. Davy utilized forty male and female pairings of similar crimes, analyzed the court cases and concluded women participate in less serious crimes and this is the only factor in their lenient sentencing; concluding gender is not...
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...argues that men are protective towards women and that the criminal justice system is more lenient towards them.Because of this their crimes are less likely to end up in the official crime statistics, which would mean that the crime statistics give an unrepresentative image of offences. Flood-Page et al ’s research supports this theory, as they found that out of females who were self-reported criminals only one in eleven had been cautioned or prosecuted. Whereas for men in was over one in seven. Furthermore women were also more likely to be cautioned rather than prosecuted. According to the Ministry of Justice in 2007 49% of females recorded as offending were cautioned. However for males the figure was significantly less at 30%. However there is evidence that disputes the chivalry thesis. An example of this is Farrinton and Morris study. When studying 408 offences of theft in the magistrates court they found women weren't sentenced more leniently for similar offences. In addition to this Buckle and Farrington’s observations witnessed twice as many male shoplifters than females, despite the fact that official statistics would suggest that there is an equal number of male and females shoplifters. This suggests that...
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...In this essay there will be information explaining to what extent the concept of social exclusion helps us understand the relationship between drug use and crime. One of the most common explanations of the drug-crime relationship is that drug use causes crime. While there is some support that drug use causes crime, there is some variation about the way in which drug use may cause crime.(Bennett and Holloway,2005) Bennett and Holloway highlight three types of explanation: Psychopharmacological explanations, economic explanations and drug lifestyle explanations. Psychopharmacological explanations suggest drug use can lead to crime because of the impact of drugs on the behaviour of the drug user. Goldstein describes this when he states ‘some individuals as a result of short term or long term ingestion of specific substances may become excitable, irrational and exhibit violent behaviour.’ (Goldstein,1985:494) By this Goldstein is saying that drug taking has a direct effect on the individual’s behaviour which can lead to criminal behaviour (Bennett and Holloway,2005).Psychopharmacological explanations of the links between drug use and crime tend to focus on the links between drug use and violent crime (Bennett and Holloway,2005). There are a number of ways in which Psychopharmacological processes may lead to crime. White and Gorman list ‘disinhibition, cognitive-perceptual distortions, attention deficits, bad judgement and neuro-chemical change’ (White and Gorman,2000:170) as potential...
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...the severity of them. Displacement is when a person takes their anger and frustration out on something or someone else than the person/thing that is making them feel like that which can mean attacking a stranger on the street. This theory also says that maternal deprivation can be linked to criminal behaviour as a lack of maternal affection can cause affectionless psychopathy which investigated in a study by Bowlby. He tested 44 juvenile delinquents for affectionless psychopathy. He found 14 cases of it within the delinquents, he then asked the families of said juveniles to see if there was a separation from the mother for an extended period of time. Out of the 14, 12 had spent long periods of time apart from the mother. This suggests that maternal deprivation can be the cause of delinquent behaviour. There are several problems with this approach to offending, one of which is that people who only have one parent who isn’t the same sex can still grow up to be perfectly law abiding citizens which disputes the idea of a weak superego being caused by the absence of the same sex parent. Freud also says that boys are more moral than girls however...
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...problem of Sexual offending, specifically child molestation has been solved. Unfortunately this is not the case, and sexual offending is an issue that plagues many members of society today. Many proposals have been submitted, acts of legislation passed, but sexual offending is still happening within our world today. This paper will further examine preventative actions that can be taken to reduce child molesting by educating children on the facts of molestation, actions of adolescent sexual offenders, what they should do if faced with an actual molestation situation, and the importance of background checks while also exploring approaches aimed at reducing recidivism rates from the clinical, justice, community protection, and community reintegration model, by combining preventative action, and recidivism reduction to solve the issue of sexual offending , specifically Child molestation. The offenders targeted within this category of sexual offenders are child molesters. Child molesters can be defined as individuals who have a greater sexual interest in children, and sexual activities with children (Canter & Kirby, 1995). Child molesters are offenders who target children, and engage in sexual activity with them. The first measure of prevention and possibly the most important is educating children on the facts of molestation, including molestation by adults, molestation by youth, what children can do in the actual situation if faced with molestation. Studies have been conducted...
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