Transcript Characteristics of Children and Juveniles with Problem

What Is Sexual Abuse?
Sexually abusive behavior is defined as
any sexual interaction between person(s)
of any age that is perpetrated: (1) against
the victim’s will; (2) without consent; or
(3) in an aggressive, exploitative,
manipulative, or threatening manner.
(G. Ryan, 1997)
Normative Sexual Behaviors
Finkelhor et.al., Study
TC Johnson “Stoplight”
Green Light Behavior
• GREEN LIGHT BEHAVIOR (Expected, Normal
Behavior) Most sexual behavior considered normal in
childhood involves either periodic solitary activity or
similar age peers or siblings, with no coercion, occurring
within the cultural norms of society. These behaviors may
still need limits or intervention by the foster parent but
are not consider pathological.
• 􀂉 Playing doctor or house
• 􀂉 Occasional masturbation, no penetration
• 􀂉 Imitating adult seduction such as flirting or kissing
• 􀂉 Dirty works or jokes within cultural or peer group
norm
• 􀂉 Mutual showing of body parts by peers
• 􀂉 Conversations with peers about reproduction and
genitals
Yellow Light Behavior
• YELLOW LIGHT BEHAVIOR (Cause for Concern/Possible
Intervention Needed)
• 􀂉 Preoccupation with sexual themes (especially sexually
aggression)
• 􀂉 Sexually explicit conversation with peers
• 􀂉 Sexual innuendo/teasing/harassment/embarrassment of
other
• 􀂉 Attempting to expose other’s genitals (e.g. pulling up skirts,
pulling down pants)
• 􀂉 Sexual graffiti (especially chronic and or impacting others)
• 􀂉 Precocious sexual knowledge and/or activity
• 􀂉 Single occurrences of peeping, exposing, obscenities,
pornographic interest.
• 􀂉 Preoccupation with masturbation
• 􀂉 Mutual masturbation/group masturbation
• 􀂉 Simulating foreplay with dolls, toys, peer with clothing on
(petting, French
• kissing)
Red Light Behavior
• RED LIGHT BEHAVIOR. (Requires adult supervision, confrontation,
and possible
• therapeutic intervention)
• 􀂉 Touching of genitals of others
• 􀂉 Using force to expose others genitals or body parts
• 􀂉 Sexually explicit conversations with significant age difference’
chronic
• obscenities
• 􀂉 Inducing fear/threats of force to coerce sexual activity
• 􀂉 Sexually explicit proposals/threats including written notes
• 􀂉 Repeated or chronic peeing/exposing/pornographic interest
• 􀂉 Compulsive masturbation/interrupting tasks to masturbate
• 􀂉 Masturbation by girls that includes penetration
• 􀂉 Simulating intercourse with dolls, peers, animals
• 􀂉 Oral, vaginal, anal penetration of children adults, animals dolls
• 􀂉 Force touching of genitals, genital injury or bleeding without
accidental cause
• 􀂉 Simulating intercourse with peers with clothing off
Continuum of Sexual
Behaviors in Children
Toni Cavanaugh Johnson
GROUP ONE: Normal Sexual
Exploration
Characteristics: Children of all ages show normal, sexual
behavior based on the discovery and development of
their physical and sexual selves. This may include
exploring feelings and genitals, interest in language
related to sex, and giggling about bathroom related
functions. Children involved in normal sexual
exploration may do it solitarily or with friends of
similar age and size. They more often explore with
friends rather than siblings. These encounters are
voluntarily, and often light-hearted, fun and silly.
They do not often include feelings of deep shame,
fear or anxiety. For teens, this often involves intense
feelings for the opposite sex and sexual exploration in
relationships. These behaviors may need limits,
guidance or education, but are not considered
abnormal or pathological.
GROUP TWO: Sexually
Reactive Behaviors
Characteristics: Group Two exhibits more sexual
behaviors than Group One and has a preoccupation
with sexuality. Many of these children have been
abused or exposed to pornography and sexual
stimulation. These children have trouble integrating
and understanding such stimulation and express this
confusion in increased sexual behavior. Sexually
reactive children often feel deep shame guilt and
anxiety about sexuality. Their behavior focuses mostly
on themselves. When they involve other children, the
difference in age in usually not great and force is not
usually involved. These children respond well to
therapy and education. When the anxiety is reduced
or more age appropriate and less sexually stimulating
environments are encouraged, the level of sexual
behavior tends to decrease.
GROUP THREE: Extensive
Mutual Sexual Behaviors
Characteristics: These children often approach sexuality
as just the way they play and are often more resistant
to treatment than Group Two. These children use
coercion and manipulation but rarely resort to
violence. They are characteristically without
emotional affect, meaning they neither have the
lighthearted spontaneity of normal children nor the
shame and guilt of the sexually reactive children.
These children often have a history of severe abuse
and abandonment. Sex is a way to relate to their peers.
These children need an intensive and rigorous
relearning of social skills and peer relationships.
These children will also need intensive supervision in
the home setting and around other children.
GROUP FOUR: Children Who
Molest
Characteristics: The children in this category go far beyond
developmentally appropriate play. They are obsessed with
sexual thoughts and engage in a full range of sexual
behavior that becomes a pattern, rather than solitary
incidents. These children need intensive and specialized
treatment. These children often link sexual acting out to
feelings of anger, rage, loneliness, or fear. Children with
severe offending behaviors choose vulnerable and younger
victims. They lack compassion with their victims and feel
regret in getting caught, not with hurting another child.
Most of these children have severe behavior problems at
home and school and have few friends. For some of these
children, their behavior borders on compulsive behavior.
Compulsive behavior means the child has lost control over
it and has a very difficult time not repeating actions, even
when punished or when trying to stop. These children
need therapy, strong intervention, combined at times with
medication to control these impulses.
Five Sub-Types of Children
with Problem Sexual
Behaviors
Pithers, et al., 1998b
Non-Disordered
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Females over-represented
Fewest number of psychiatric disorders
ADHD diagnosed in 24%
Mixed history of maltreatment
Acknowledge their own sexual abuse
Physical Abuse relatively rare
Children have fewest number of victims
Sex acts rarely involve use of force
Penetration relatively rare
Abuse Reactive
• Males over-represented
• High number of psychiatric diagnoses
• ADHD diagnoses far more common as well as
conduct disorder diagnosis
• High level of maltreatment
• High number of sexual abusers (theirs)
• Moderate physical abuse
• Shortest time from own abuse to abusing others
• Child may penetrate victims
• Highest number of victims
• Aggression rarely used during abusive acts
Highly Traumatized
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Genders proportionately represented
Highest number of psychiatric diagnoses
Highest number of PTSD diagnoses
ADHD diagnoses highly prevalent
Extensive history of maltreatment
Highest number of sexual abusers
Highest number of physical abusers
Highest total number of abusers
Relatively young at first victimization
Do not penetrate their victims
Rule Breakers
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Females over-represented
Mixed psychiatric diagnoses
Mixed history of maltreatment
Acknowledge own sexual abuse
Moderate physical abuse
Longest time from abuse to abusing
Aggression used to gain victim submission
Penetration relatively rare
Sexually Aggressive
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Males over-represented
Highest percentage of conduct-disorder diagnoses
ADHD diagnoses also prevalent
Seldom acknowledge own maltreatment
Fewest sexual abusers
Oldest children at time of onset
Greatest percentage who penetrate victim
Highest average number of penetrative acts
Aggression used to gain victim submission
Juveniles (Adolescents) with
Problem Sexual Behavior
Arrests for Forcible Rape:
Adults vs. Juveniles
(FBI, 2001)
juveniles
16%
adults
84%
Arrests for Other Sex Offenses:
Adults vs. Juveniles
(FBI, 2001)
juveniles
19%
adults
81%
The Underestimate Problem
• Sexual abuse is significantly underreported
– Research indicates that the majority of victims do not report their
victimization
• Arrest data alone is misleading
• Additional discrepancies may exist due to different
definitions of sexual abuse
– Research design
– State statutes
– Victims’ perceptions
• Statistics can be based on:
– Arrests
– Adjudications/convictions
– Offender disclosures
– Victim reports/disclosures
Perpetrators of Rape:
Adults vs. Juveniles
(Inclusive Estimates)
juveniles
34%
adults
66%
Perpetrators of Child Sexual Abuse:
Adults vs. Juveniles
(Inclusive Estimates)
juveniles
45%
adults
55%
How Do We Know if a Juvenile’s
Sexual Behavior is Problematic?
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Age, power, size differential
Secrecy vs. public displays
Manipulation, bribery, trickery
Level of intrusiveness
Range of sexual behaviors
Frequency and chronicity
Use of force or violence
Victim’s account
Adult vs. Juvenile Sex
Offenders: Similarities and
Differences
Adult vs. Juvenile Offenders
• There are three useful typologies for
adult offenders: the Knight-Prentky,
The Groth Typology, and the FBI
Typology. The Knight-Prentky
typology, based on Groth’s work, has
been statistically validated.
• There are no statistically valid
typologies for juvenile sex offenders.
Adult vs. Juvenile Offenders
• It appears that most adult sex offenders
have issues with on-going deviant fantasies
with varying degrees of severity and that
sexual deviance plays a major role in adult
sexual offending behavior.
• Sexual deviance appears to exist within a
minority of adolescents who sexually abuse.
Adult vs. Juvenile Offenders
• Other criminal behaviors are more likely in
adults than juveniles, but in either indicate
an increased likelihood of future relapse
behavior.
• A moderate number of adult offenders have
a history of childhood sexual abuse.
• A high number of juveniles have a history
of childhood sexual abuse .
Adult vs. Juvenile Offenders
• Recent studies by Burton, Miller and Shill
(2000) found empirical support that
adolescent sexual abusers generally have a
higher rate of having been sexually abused
than non-sexually abusive youth.
• A youth was found to be 23 times more
likely to be in the sexually abusive group if:
he had been sexually abused by both men
and woman, his perpetrator was related to
him, a forceful MO was used, if the abuse
occurred over several years, and if
penetration occurred.
Adult vs. Juvenile Offenders
• Veneziano, Veneziano and LeGrand (2000) that
a high number of adolescent abusers repeat the
abuse that was done to them. Findings
indicated that sexually abusive youth tend to
learn from and repeat the characteristics of their
own abuse.
• Burton (2001) found youths were likely to abuse
the same type of person who abused them (e.g.,
a youth sexually abused by a relative was
almost 3 times more likely to abuse a relative
than a youth who was not sexually abused by a
relative and 4.5 times more likely to sexually
abuse a neighbor if they had been sexually
abused by a friend or neighbor, twice a likely to
abuse a male if abused by a male, etc.
Adult vs. Juvenile Offenders
• Knight (2001), following up on a Knight/Prentky
study (1993) found that a lower general level of
social competency, a higher frequency of anti-social
behavior, more pervasive anger and a higher
frequency of childhood sexual abuse appear to
suggest a greater likelihood of continued offending
behavior into adulthood.
• Limitations – among other problems, studies are on
incarcerated or placed offenders so we do not know
the degree to which they can be generalized.
Adult vs. Juvenile Offenders
• Adult offenders clearly benefit from
cognitive-behavioral interventions such as
Relapse Prevention. While it is desirable
that a treatment program offer additional
treatment options, just utilizing R.P. will
have an effect.
• Juveniles require a multi-systemic treatment
response that may focus less on Relapse
Prevention and more on other treatment
areas.
Adult vs. Juvenile Offenders
• We now have a variety of valid methods to
reasonably determine the risk and
dangerousness of adult offenders, including
use of actuarial devices, phallometry, the
Abel Screen, polygraphy, and the Hare PCLR.
• We have no actuarial devices for juveniles.
Phallometry and polygraphy are usually not
recommended except in very specific and
controlled circumstances. The Abel Screen
has not been shown to be effective, and the
Hare should not be used with juveniles
under 16.
Adult vs. Juvenile Offenders
• Adults require a treatment
intervention that lasts about three
years on average.
• Juveniles appear to benefit from a
briefer period of treatment
intervention – one to two years.
Exclusive focus on the
problematic sexual behaviors
or Labeling can be
problematic given the lack of
solid research
Labeling
• It is fairly rare that we categorize or label
other types of juveniles and force them to
maintain the label
– juvenile physical assaulter, juvenile truant,
juvenile carjacker, juvenile drug dealer
• However, there is a tendency to label these
youth as juvenile sex offenders
• This produces a limited and narrow view of
the juvenile and subsequently defines the
juvenile
– (“He did, therefore he is…and that’s all he is”)
It is more appropriate to
utilize a response that is
comprehensive,
multisystemic, and holistic in
nature.
A Multisystemic Response
• Sexual offending behaviors need to be
addressed, but…
• A multitude of other areas (that can either
increase or reduce risk) need to be addressed as
well
• The focus should be holistic and comprehensive
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individual
family
peers
school
Etiology of Juvenile Offending
How Adolescent Problem Sexual
Behavior Has Been Explained: The
Swing of the Pendulum...
• Failed to attend to juvenile offenders
• “Boys will be boys”
• “It’s just a phase”
• “Teenage boys’ hormones are raging”
• “It was only experimentation”
• Over-labeling, over pathologizing of juveniles with
sexual behavior problems
• The young pedophile
• The budding sexual predator
• Perception of juveniles as mini-adult offenders who
are destined to continue offending as adults
– Based on retrospective studies of adult offenders
Etiological Considerations in Juvenile
Sexual Offending
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Child maltreatment
Exposure to pornography
Poor impulse control
Exposure to violence, aggressive role models
Substance abuse
Esteem deficits
Attachment difficulties
Social competency deficits
Empathy deficits
Emotional regulation difficulties
Sexual victimization
Sexual Victimization to
Perpetration
• Younger at time of victimization
• Were victimized more frequently
• Waited a longer period of time to disclose
• Perceived their families as having been less
supportive of them
(Hunter & Figueredo,
2000)
– Suggests attachment and environmental issues may be
etiologically significant
Juvenile Sexual Abuser
Typologies
(Hunter et al.)
Peer/Adult Victims
Child Victims
Abusers of Peers/Adults
• Generally victimize females
• Most victims tend to be strangers or casual
acquaintances, rather than family members
• Offense often occurs in conjunction with other crime
• More likely to commit offense in public areas
• More likely to use force, violence, or weapon and
subsequently cause injury
• Appear more delinquent or conduct disordered
Abusers of Children
• Higher proportion of male victims
• Intra-familial victims more common
• Less violent or forceful, more
manipulative and opportunistic
• Less emotionally indifferent/less
antisocial
• Self-esteem and social competency
deficits are common
Both Types
• High levels of academic difficulties,
learning disabilities
• Mental health/behavioral health
difficulties
• Impaired judgement and impulse
control