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40 Int. J. Offender Therapy & Comp. Criminology 300 (1996)
Demographic and Parental Characteristics of Youthful Sexual Offenders

handle is hein.journals/ijotcc40 and id is 291 raw text is: Demographic and Parental Characteristics of Youthful Sexual Offenders Roger B. Graves D. Kim Openshaw Frank R. Ascione Susan L. Ericksen Abstract: This study, employing meta-analysis, investigates 20 years (1973-1993) of empiri- cal data involving demographic and parental correlates of youthful sexual offenders. Three offender subtypes, pedophilic, sexual assault, and mixed offense youth, are identified. Pedo- philic youth are described as being principally Caucasian, living in foster care, and having an education of < sixth grade. They tend to be from lower to mid socioeconomic status (SES) maladaptive families. Mothers of these youth have been physically abused as children, and fathers abuse drugs. Sexual assault youth come from low- to mid-SES, single parent, dysfunc- tional families with fathers abusing alcohol. These youth are most often Caucasian. Mixed offense offenders are predominately from lower SES families, are Caucasian, Protestant, and have high school education. Families are dysfunctional with paternal substance abuse. Fathers report being neglected as children, whereas mothers indicate physical abuse. O'Brien and Bera (1986) indicated that adolescent sexual offenders represent a serious social problem. Not only do they commit a relatively large number of sexual crimes, but these often represent the early stages of a developing sexual deviance that the adolescent carries into adult life (p. 1). Approximately 3% to 4% of adolescents between ages 15 and 21 have committed a sexual offense (Ageton, 1983). This percentage translates to an estimated 500,000 offenses annually in the United States. Although crime reports and research findings estimate that adolescents are responsible for approximately 20% of rapes and 30% to 50% of reported cases of child sexual abuse (Davis & Leitenberg, 1987; Deisher, Wenet, Paperney, Clark, & Fehrenbach, 1982; Groth & Loredo, 1981), U.S. Department of Justice (1992) statistics suggest that current incident rates of sexual abuse by adolescents may be seriously underestimated. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 40(4), 1996 300-317 © 1996 Sage Publications, Inc. 300 from the SAGE Social Science Collections. All Rights Reserved.

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