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Sexually coercive adolescents:
incidence, risk factors and outcome
Cecilia Kjellgren
Lic SW, PhD Cand
Lund University
Adolescent sexual offenders
Aged 12-17
 Females and males

– In Sweden - 15 years age of criminal
responsibility
National incidence of reports to social
services year 2000
Kjellgren, Wassberg, Carlberg, Långström & Svedin, 2006
New reports to social services during year
2000
 Aged 12-17
 197 males, 2 females
 Incidence rate - among males 0.06%

– number of reported cases year 2000 divided
by the male population ages 12-17

Equally frequent reports from big cities
and rural areas
02 - .07 %
.07 - .14 %
.15 - .26 %
.26 - .91 %
no reported
cases
Distribution incidence rates in
Sweden
Stockholm
Göteborg
Malmö
Two subgroups

Child offenders

Peer offenders
– more likely grooming
behaviour
– more likely rape
– often social isolation
– emotional loneliness
– other criminal behaviour
unusual
– aggression
– conduct problems
– other criminal behaviour
present
Child vs peer offenders, Kjellgren, 2006
characteristics
Child offender
N=91
Peer offender
N=105
siblings %
37 (42,2)
12 (12,1)
relatives %
11 (12,6)
2 (2,1)
acquaintance %
35 (40,2)
72 (72,7)
stranger %
4 (4,6)
13 (13,1)
any male victim %
25 (37,3)
12 (13,2)
***
>1 offer %
32 (42,0)
12 (15,8)
**
offended together w
group of peers %
12 (15.4)
57 (67.9)
***
2
***
Social workers reported experiences of the clinical work
with adolescents who sexually offend
Difficulties, resistance and experiences of
success.
 Half of the local authorities in Sweden (n=140)
participated.
 One hundred and eighty social workers sent
their comments.
 The comments have been grouped in four sub
groups with the themes:

–
–
–
–
knowledge and resources
responsibility and cooperation
good practice
to approach of the adolescent sex offender
Population based study - background
•Representative
population-based surveys to
complement the knowledge about the etiology of
adolescent sexual offending
•Comparisons
only with non-conduct problem
subjects will not separate risk / needs factors that
are common to various forms of antisocial behavior
from those that are specifically associated with
sexually coercive behaviour
Population based study
4.343 3rd year students upper secondary
school (further education)
 Mean age 18.0 years
 Identify general and specific risk factors of
sexual coercive behaviour

– To identify general risk factors and those
specific of sexual coercion, the results were
compared with conduct problem youths as
well as with normal controls.
Methods
Subjects were divided into three groups;
•sexually
coercive
•non-sex
conduct problem (CP)
•control
adolescents
(SEX)
(NC)
Definition of study groups
Sexually coercive behavior group (SEX)
Subject endorsed ”ever talked someone into, used
pressure or forced somebody to masturbate you, to
have sexual intercourse, oral sex or anal sex”
Non-sex conduct problem group (CP)
Subject endorsed ≥3 of ”ever violent conflict with
teacher, ever theft of >85 £ worth, ever burglary, ever
stolen car or mc, frequently truant (≥5 times), ever
away from home whole night without parents knowing
where”
Victims of penetrating sexual abuse
45
40
35
30
%
25
boys
girls
20
15
10
5
0
NC
SEX
CP
Sexual preoccupation
50
45
40
35
30
boys
girls
% 25
20
15
10
5
0
NC
SEX
CP
Acceptance of rape myths
Burt, 1980 (range 5-35)
25
20
15
boys
girls
mean
10
5
0
NC
SEX
CP
Ever porn use
100
90
80
70
60
boys
girls
% 50
40
30
20
10
0
NC
SEX
CP
Porn use almost daily
30
25
20
boys
girls
% 15
10
5
0
NORMAL
SEX
UPP
Results: Correlates
Both general criminogenic and sexuality-specific risk
factors were related to self-reported sexually coercive
behaviour among boys and girls
General correlates to conduct-disordered behaviour
(including sexually abusive behaviour) in boys were;
lower parental socio-economic position, separated
parents, non-majority ethnicity, and being in nontheoretical study programmes.
For both boys and girls, aggressiveness and risk
taking, frequent alcohol consumption, use of cannabis
and harder drugs (particularly in girls) were general
correlates to conduct-disordered behaviour.
Results: Correlates
For both boys and girls, risk factors related
more specifically to sexually coercive behavior, as
compared to non-sex conduct problems, were:
being a victim of sexual abuse (boys only), feeling
sexual lust almost all the time, using porn almost
daily, and endorsing more rape myths.
Sexually coercive girls tended to have fewer
general correlates to conduct-disordered behavior
(e.g. poorer socio-economic position, separated
parents, non-majority ethnicity, non-theoretical
programmes) than did sexually coercive boys
Conclusions study 1 and 2

Approximately 10-15% of sexual offences
committed by adolescents are reported to
authorities

1-3% of reported adolescent sex offenders are
girls

Self reports indicate that girls constitute
approximately 20% of the offending population
Risk assessment


Identify risk and needs of the young person
Identify the risks of reoffending behaviour – in
the interest of future potential victims

comprehensive assessment
– Individual, family, school, peer domains
– The narrative of the victim
– Sexuality
 Interview with the adolescent
–
–
–
–
Knowledge
Interests
Fantasies
Experiences
– Sexual abuse
Empirically Guided Checklists
A systematic review of risk factors that
have been identified in the professional
literature as being associated with sexual
and criminal offending.
Practical value of a decision-support
system for risk assessment, in comparison
to unstructured clinical procedures.
– To improve the reliability and predictive
validity of these assessments.
Risk prediction challenges for
adolescent sex offenders
low base rates of recidivism
 limited number of well-designed studies
on recidivism on youth

Currently two instruments that have data to
support the use for assessment of adolescent risk
of sexual recidivism
Faniff & Becker, 2006

J-SOAP-II
– (Juveniles Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II,
Prentky & Righthand, 2003)

ERASOR
– (Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offense
Recidivism, Worling & Curwen, 2001)
 research on use of risk assessment is promising
ERASOR
(Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offence Recidivism)
25 risk factors that fall into 5 categories,
– Sexual interests, attitudes and behaviours
– Historical sexual assaults
– Psychosocial functioning
– Family / environmental functioning
– Treatment
Risk level

occurrence of factors of the adolescent,
guide professionals to estimate the level of
risk of sexual recidivism
– Low
– Medium
– High
Review of factors associated with criminal recidivism in adolescents who have
offended sexually. Supported, promising, possible, and unlikely risk factors
Worling & Långström, 2003

Supported risk factors
•
Deviant sexual interests (prepubescent children or
sexual violence)
Prior criminal sanctions for sexual assaults
•
Past sexual offences against two or more victims
•
Selection of a stranger victim in sexual offence
•
Lack of intimate peer relationships / social isolation
•
Incomplete sexual offence-specific treatment
•
Follow-up study

Originally a clinical sample of 90 adolescent
females and males assessed 1998-2004
4 girls and 86 boys
 Mean age 15 years by assessment (11-19
years)

Follow-up study
≥ 4 years after assessment

40 males participate in follow up (mean
age at follow up 22,7 years)
– Mean 6 years post assessment
Majority of victims < 12 years
 Half of the victims

– siblings
– or children living in the same foster family as
the offending adolescent

Majority of abuse, penetration or attempt
to penetrate
Risk estimate for the study group
Low risk
22%
 Medium risk 35%
 High risk
43%


What happened……….?
Follow-up study
≥ 4 years after assessment





Did the risk assessments predict adolescents
with increased risk to commit further sex
offences/non-sex offences?
Identify individual risk factors associated with
reoffending?
Social adjustment and life style today?
Sexual health or sexual deviances today?
How did they experience disclosure, assessment
and intervention?
Follow-up study
≥ 4 years after assessment

interview and psychometric measures
– Job / studies
– social network
– life quality
– antisocial behaviour
– use of drugs and alcohol
– psychiatric health
– sexuality
– their experience of the social services
intervention
In progress…..

Extensive interventions more likely for
adolescents assessed of high risk
– though some high risk adolescents did not get
any abuse specific intervention

High risk adolescents more likely to
reoffend
– in particular child offenders

Some peer offenders referred to general
interventions for anti-social behaviour
– did not get any abuse specific interventions
– reported worrying deviant sexual fantasies /
interests
PROGNOSIS

offence specific treatment
– 5 % reoffend sexually within 4 years
 Worling & Curven, 2000, Adolescent sexual
offender recidivism: success of specialized
treatmen and implications for risk prediction, Child
Abuse and Neglect, 24:7

no specialised treatment
– 20-30% reoffend sexually
 Worling & Långström, 2003, Assessment of
Criminal recidivism risk with adolescents who have
offended sexually, Trauma, Violence and Abuse,
4:4
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