Adolescent Sex Offenders Transitioning Into Adulthood - Essay Example

Adolescent Sex Offenders Transitioning Into Adulthood

There is an enormous increase of individuals who continue to commit sexual offenses in society. Statistics have also shown about 11.7 million women and 2.1 million men experiencing forced sex during their lifetime in the United States (Schneck, 2012). Because many people do not report their sexual assault, this is considered an underestimate of sex crimes that will happen in a lifetime. A person who is labeled as a sex offender is “one who has been criminally charged and convicted of, or has pled guilty to, a sex crime” (Schneck, 625- 625). The most common sex crimes that an individual can be charged with are as follows: child molestation, child pornography, public indecency, lewd acts, sexual assault, date rape, statutory rape, forcible rape, and computer sex crimes. Typically, this essay should explain adolescent sex offenders transitioning to adult sex offenders highlighting the various risk and protective factors as well as the recommendations for services in the quest to solve or reduce the issue.

Juvenile male sexual offenders have a high likelihood of continuing to offend during their adulthood (Caldwell, 2010). It has been found that some juvenile offenders are experimenters and will not continue their sexually deviant behavior into adulthood (Caldwell, 2010). It is important to separate these groups of offenders. For example, Becker and Quinsey suggested that juvenile offenders take one of three patterns (Chan, 2019). One pattern is to not commit any more crimes which includes sex offenses. Another pattern is to commit both sex offenses and other crimes. The final possible pattern is for the juvenile to commit only sexual offenses and to develop a paraphilic arousal pattern (Caldwell, 2010). This pattern was proposed through clinical observation but has not yet been validated empirically.

There have been several studies that are particularly focused on the rates of recidivism in adolescent male offenders, which gave a result of 8-14% (Caldwell, 2010). However, there is one study that reported a sexual recidivism rate of 37% (Caldwell, 2010). Typically, this study had followed the offenders for nine years which was longer than any of the other studies had done (Caldwell, 2010). The rate of nonsexual reoffending reported in these studies ranged from thirty five to fifty four percent (Caldwell, 2010). Typically, this implies that there was high probability of offenders to commit nonsexual offendes as compared to committing sexual offenses.

A majority of earlier studies of juvenile sex offender recidivism used chi-square analysis to attempt to determine the relationship between variables and re-offense categories. A study by Smith and Monastersky found that sexual recidivists were more likely to have victimized older personas and strangers than nonsexual reoffenders and non-reoffenders (Caldwell, 2010). Another study claimed that total reoffending of adolescent sex offenders was related to functional deficits. These functional deficits include poor knowledge of sex and social skills, having a sibling with a sexual offense history, and school problems such as truancy and behavioral problems (Caldwell, 2010).

Characteristics and Risk Factors

It has been evaluated that 20% of all assaults are done by adolescents (Hart-Kerkhoffs, 2009). A large portion of the examination on adolescent sex offenders centers around wrongdoers in the age scope of 12-18 years (Ryan, 2011). Be that as it may, preschool and primary schools children have had levels of sexual exploitive expand significantly since the characterization of sexual offenses (Ryan, 2011). Sexual offenses are committed by adolescents of all ethnic, geographical, racial, religious and socioeconomic groups. Despite the fact that 70% of these adolescent sex assault parties are living in two parent homes when they are found, the greater part of them report to have some parental misfortune (Ryan, 2011). This incorporates surrender, ailment, or demise of a parent, interruptions or divisions because of position of the kid, separation, hospitalization, or imprisonment of a parent (Ryan, 2011).

A number of these adolescent sex offenders go to school and achieve average grades but a big number of them have been said to have special problems in school (Ryan, 2011). These problems can include learning disabilities, special education needs, behavior problems, or problems with school attendance (truancy) (Hart-Kerkhoffs, 2009). There is not a specific type of social characteristic that applies to this group. An adolescent sex offender could be an intense reprobate, a social outsider, a competitor, a well-known star, or even a respect move understudy (Hart-Kerkhoffs, 2009). Not many of them have really been determined to have psychological instability, formative incapacities, or psychosis (Ryan, 2011).

Another reason why victims of sexual assaults may later victimize others sexually has to do with physiological arousal. Typically, this physiological arousal can drive to consequential masturbation and sexual fantasies (Hart-Kerkhoffs, 2009). As a result, the person is conditioned to act out sexually in certain ways and/ or on certain types of victims (Ryan, 2011). It is speculated that freak sexual excitement and interests can be created through blending nonpartisan boosts with upgrades that characteristically-caused sexual excitement. This is known as classical conditioning. Notably, this suggests that deviant interests can start early in life and become strengthened over time through the acting out and masturbation that is paired with the fantasies and sexual excitement (Hart-Kerkhoffs, 2009).

Use of alcohol is said to hold a firm correlation with sexual offenses (Harbers, 2012). About forty to fifty percent of sexual offenders have reported that they were drinking around the time that they committed the offense (Harbers, 2012). A possible reason for this relationship could be that the abuser uses the alcohol to reduce inhibitions which makes it easier for him or her to commit the sexual acts (Harbers, 2012). More characteristics that can strongly affect the risk of adolescent sexual offense are criminal behavior of the father and parental substance abuse (Harbers, 2012). When a parent has psychiatric problems, criminal history, or substance abuse problems, it can interfere with their ability to form attachment bonds (Harbers, 2012). According to Bowlby’s Attachment theory, a bond between a child and his or her parent is the central frame of the developing relationship and gives the child confidence and security to explore the world (Bowlby, 1969). When these attachment ties are characterized by things such as rejection, insecurity, inconsistency, abuse, a lack of warmth, or disruptions in continuity, it has a very negative effect on the child (Harbers, 2012).

Protective Factors

Protective factors are social, relational and environmental elements, and mental and behavior features, that lowers down a person's danger of reoffending. Flexibility is depicted as being cultivated by defensive elements, which are the components that shield people from the antagonistic results that are normally connected with sexual abuse. Some of the major protective factors include empathy, school connectedness, stable employment and social support.

Empathy as protective factor is the capacity to comprehend and share the sentiments of others or as it were, to put oneself in another's position (Casey, 2017). Building empathy could be a promising methodology for forestalling sexual offense, and by expansion, sexual animosity too. Social support which is contribution from companions, family, and others enables a person to accept that the person is esteemed, cherished, and part of a complementary system of care, help, and duty. While hardly any examinations unequivocally look at the role of social support in the reduction of sexual offense against children, critical proof recommends that social support is a cradle against recidivism among adjudicated sex offenders (Casey, 2017).

From an etiological point of view, sex offenders against children are almost certain to have poor social skills, challenges in interpersonal connections, and to need secure connections as compared to non-offenders (Casey, 2017). Stable employment is another protective factor in that it keeps sex offenders busy that they cannot find time to look for sex victims to abuse. School connectedness is also another protective factor. It is an individual's degree of connection to their school and the nature of this relationship, including such ideas as how close the understudy feels to the school, how happy at school, and their activeness in school.

Recommendations of Service

The predominant model that is used currently in the treatment of adolescent sex offender is a cognitive- behavioral approach that is psycho-educational and individually focused. It centers around recognizing a sexual abuse cycle, challenging thinking mistakes in the cycle, and detaching hazard factors. Additionally, it incorporates building up a backslide anticipation intend to evade high hazard circumstance and limit dynamic risk factors. Dynamic risk factors will be factors that can be influenced through treatment. These incorporate social isolation, deviant sexual arousal and low esteem (Sahlstrom, 2008).

Literatures have defined the sexual abuse cycle as a key element in the understanding of adolescent sex offending behavior (Sahlstrom, 2008). It clarifies that these adolescents have subjective diagrams that depend on negative encounters from quite a while ago. These intellectual patterns are typically the reason for negative desires for the future which brings about withdrawal behavior. When this withdrawal behavior does not give them the result that they want, resentment comes. Resultantly, this develops fantasy and power-based solutions that eventually leads to abusive behaviors. When the fear of being caught arrives, the youth attempts to manage his or her fears. Then the individual will reevaluate his or her sexual conduct in order to achieve some level of normality.

Arguably, this sexual cycle is powered by thinking errors reinforced by ability to have control over the past relationships as well as the negative experiences of the individual’s past (Sahlstrom, 2008). Therapist’s approaches towards treatment method is typically on the basis of the consideration and application of concepts for instance, the sexual abuse cycle and relapse prevention. Relapse prevention is basically described in general terms that incorporate the utilization of treatment to potential risk factors that could improve the probability of a backslide (Sahlstrom, 2008). It centers around recognizing high risk circumstances and creating aptitudes to prevent these circumstances from causing problems.

Therapist have to figure out how is the best way to impact youth while in therapy sessions through ways that can aid the youth in applying these lessons for treatment to their everyday lives. Interventions are created based on the need and the situation in the current life of each adolescent (Sahlstrom, 2008). There are several special skills that these individuals are taught in order to address dynamic risk factors such as, thought stop techniques to stop unexpected arousal and psycho- educational assistances that focus on appropriate societal skills and different pro social traits of their lives. Also included are exercises like victim empathy to help fix self- centered attitudes and self- disclosure to help fix cognitive distortions and stop isolation. Laws that were initially developed for adult sex offenders are now affected juvenile sex offenders because of public concern (Sahlstrom, 2008). Examples of these laws include sex offender registration and notification.

Overall, adolescent sex offenders have a high possibility of extending their criminal activities into their adulthood, a more severe risk stage. However, these juveniles have opportunities to change their sexual perspectives while they are young. Be that as it may, some of the juveniles will highly need guide and support in their quest to overcome this norm. Typically, this support includes counselling and suggested behavioral, cognitive and psychoanalysis therapies. Even though adolescent and adult sex offenders share some similarities, I suggest that adult and juvenile sex offenders vary a great deal. For instance, they vary in the nature of their sexual acts as well as the etiology of the behavior. Moreover, these two groups vary in their deviant sexual arousal patterns as well their choices of their victims. Lastly, the duration of the contact that they have with their victim also varies. Principally, with the fact that juvenile as well as adult sex offenders will always be in existence, it is important to note the various ways in which therapists can apply some concepts in the quest to curb the issue. These includes the sexual abuse cycle and relapse prevention among other concepts.