Discriminant factors for adolescent sexual offending: On the usefulness of considering both victim age and sibling incest

Differences in Psychosexual Development Among Child, Peer, and Mixed Juvenile Sex Offenders

“…Peer offenders exhibit more aggressive behavior and externalizing problems, lower socioeconomic status, minimal parental supervision, and a larger family history of criminal behavior when compared with child offenders . Peer offenders also exhibit more delinquency, consensual sex, unknown victims, and friends of the same age than child or mixed offenders .…”

“…Type of offense, amount of force, weapon, and/or alcohol/drugs used were offense characteristics previously explored . Lastly, victim characteristics studied include victim relationship with the offender, victim age, and victim gender . The following sections summarize the current literature comparing child and peer juvenile sex offenders (see Keelan & Fremouw [] for a thorough summary and critique).…”

“…Both child and peer offenders were more likely to victimize acquaintances; however, child offenders were more likely to offend against a relative compared to peer offenders . Offenders who victimized siblings had higher rates of sexual and physical abuse, perpetrated more severe offenses, were more likely diagnosed with conduct disorder, and were less likely to endorse consensual sex with peers compared with child and peer offenders . With regard to victim gender, research has found that peer offenders tended to exclusively offend against female victims, whereas child offenders tended to be more indiscriminate with a larger proportion offending against male victims .…”

Parental Perspectives on the Emotional, Relational and Logistical Impacts on Siblings of Youth Who Sexually Offend

“…The findings echo those of previous, albeit limited, studies elsewhere that have shed particular light on the negative impacts on siblings (Bass and others, ; Hackett and others, ). While such limited research has tended to focus on the experiences of victimised siblings (Cyr and others, ; Joyal and others, ; Tidefors and others, ), our research, along with that of Hackett and others (, ) and Bass and others (), is unique in that it also draws particular attention to parents’ understanding of the plight of non‐victimised sisters and brothers who must also be recognised as secondary victims of their sibling's harm‐generating behaviour. As caregivers reported, the impacts on both victimised and non‐victimised siblings were multifaceted and complicated throughout the disclosure, investigation, treatment and reintegration phases.…”

“…parent‐perpetrated sexual offending) and/or the ‘loyalty bind’ when children within the same family are both victims and perpetrators (Caffaro and Conn‐Caffaro, ; Cyr and others, ). Research has also suggested that families in which sibling sexual offending has occurred experience greater adversity, such as strained caregiver–child relationships, fewer caregiver supports, inadequate parental supervision, greater history of parental victimisation during childhood, domestic violence and greater occurrence of sexual victimisation and pornography exposure among offending youth (Caffaro and Conn‐Caffaro, ; Collin‐Vézina and others, ; Joyal and others, ; Latzman and others, ; Thornton and others, ; Tidefors and others, ; Worling, ).…”