Recent research related to juvenile sex offending: findings and directions for further research

Do Juveniles Who Have Committed Sexual Offenses Have Higher Callous-Unemotional Traits Compared to Juveniles Who Have Committed General Offenses? A Systematic Review

The importance of assessing psychopathic traits in juveniles who have committed sexual offenses has been established in individuals who demonstrate a particularly severe and violent pattern of behavior. Additionally, the assessment of these traits in other juveniles might be relevant considering that higher levels of these traits represent an increased probability of the juvenile committing offenses. This study is a systematic review of the literature about the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in juveniles who have committed sexual and non-sexual offenses, in order to ascertain eventual differences between these groups regarding the presence of CU traits. Studies were obtained from multiple databases, with predefined exclusion and inclusion criteria, according to PRISMA-P guidelines. A total of 18 studies were reviewed and included in the final analysis. The 18 studies used measures of CU traits and reported descriptive categories of CU traits in juveniles who have committed general offenses or juveniles who have committed sexual offenses. Meta-analytic procedures such as pooled means, pooled variances, and pooled standard deviations are presented in this study. The main conclusion obtained is that juveniles who have committed general offenses present higher levels of CU traits compared to juveniles who have committed sexual offenses. Although the review highlights limitations in the literature, the identification of these characteristics in different types of juveniles who have committed offenses is important to shed light on the phenomenon and develop interventions better suited to their characteristics. Recommendations for future research are also presented.

Sexual Offense Disclosure Assessment in Youth Referred to Community Treatment: A Latent Class Analysis

This study seeks to extend research evaluating tools to assess the disclosure of sexually abusive behavior. The subjects were 239 male youth (ages 10-20 years) who were court-ordered to participate in a community-based collaborative intervention for sexual offending that includes outpatient and probationary services. All youth participated in an interview to capture referral incident details about admission, responsibility, empathy, and remorse at intake, during intervention, and at discharge. Intake, treatment, discharge, and recidivism measures were also collected from multiple sources. Latent class analysis identified three classes based on the intake interview: Empathetic Admitters (22%), Unempathetic Admitters (38%), and Unempathetic Deniers (40%). Significant class differences were found on intake (e.g., use of physical force, caregiver denial of youth responsibility), treatment (e.g., any sanctions/violations), and discharge measures (e.g., successful treatment, probation officer ratings), but not in recidivism rates. The findings extend efforts to identify and target different disclosure patterns whose clinical monitoring may support a comprehensive intervention.

The World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for the treatment of adolescent sexual offenders with paraphilic disorders

The primary aim of these guidelines was to evaluate the role of pharmacological agents in the treatment of adolescents with paraphilic disorders who are also sexual offenders or at-risk of sexual offending. Psychotherapeutic and psychosocial treatments were also reviewed. Adolescents with paraphilic disorders specifically present a different therapeutic challenge as compared to adults. In part, the challenge relates to adolescents being in various stages of puberty and development, which may limit the use of certain pharmacological agents due to their potential side effects. In addition, most of the published treatment programmes have used cognitive behavioural interventions, family therapies and psychoeducational interventions. Psychological treatment is predicated in adolescents on the notion that sexually deviant behaviour can be controlled by the offender, and that more adaptive behaviours can be learned. The main purposes of these guidelines are to improve the quality of care and to aid physicians in their clinical decisions. These guidelines brought together different expert views and involved an extensive literature research. Each treatment recommendation was evaluated and discussed with respect to the strength of evidence for efficacy, safety, tolerability and feasibility. An algorithm is proposed for the treatment of paraphilic disorders in adolescent sexual offenders or those who are at risk.