ABSTRACT
This is a landmark study, the first to use a listing on a state sex offender registry website as a predictive variable for tracking adult recidivism of male adolescents adjudicated for sex offenses, and the longest to follow a cohort of these youth after discharge from a secure residential treatment program. Upon admission, the sample (N = 145) were assessed by JSORRAT-II and MEGAâª, two contemporary standardized, validated risk assessment tools for assessing youth who have engaged in sexually abusive behavior. They were then followed once discharged for 17.08 years into adulthood (mean follow-up = 14.0 years, SD = 1.71). Recidivism rate was 6.2% (defined as a listing for the subject on the California Megan's Law Sex Offender Registry Website). The study offers a baseline for future studies that use a state sex offender registry website as a predictive variable for recidivism. Shared common denominators of recidivists and non-recidivists were risk level (i.e. most were High Risk or Very High Risk on MEGAâª); and having a history of adverse childhood experiences other than sexual abuse (i.e. child neglect/emotional abuse and exposure to domestic violence). A history of sexual abuse, experienced by twice as many non-recidivists as recidivists, differentiated the sample. Recidivists also had fewer protective factors than non-recidivists, as assessed by the MEGA⪠upon admission to the facility. The mean age of recidivists was younger than non-recidivists, suggesting they may have been removed from their home at an early age, and/or had an early onset of persistent coarse sexual improprieties and/or sexually abusive behaviors that persisted into adulthood. The results highlight the importance of integrating trauma-informed interventions in treatment programs for those individuals who are sexually abusive that have a history of multiple adverse childhood experiences.
ABSTRACT
Risk assessment of sexually abusive youth is a specialty, which ideally includes a clinical assessment (e.g., psychological evaluation) utilizing a validated risk assessment tool. This article reviews tools for assessing sexual improprieties and/or sexually abusive behaviors in youth: JSORRAT-II, J-SOAP-II, J-RAS, AIM2, and MEGAâª,1 and a clinical assessment tool, MIDSA. Untested, structured, clinical checklists with face validity, J-RAT-4 and PROFESOR, are included. The authors also highlight clinical dilemmas using "utility tools" (i.e., polygraph and plethysmograph) with sexually abusive youth. The comprehensive review sustains a twenty-first-century New Paradigm of inclusive ecologically based, developmentally and gender-sensitive assessment tools that definitively and accurately assess risk and protective factors of sexually abusive youth.
Subject(s)
Criminals/psychology , Sex Offenses/psychology , Adolescent , Child , Humans , Protective Factors , Risk Assessment , Risk Factors , Young AdultABSTRACT
This 6-year prospective study is the first to compare two psychometrically sound risk assessment tools for sexually abusive youth: JSORRAT-II and MEGAâª. Cross-validated on representative samples of over 500 youth, these measures have cutoff scores, allowing for a more exact assessment of risk. Study sample consisted of 129 male adjudicated adolescents housed in a secured residential treatment facility for sexually abusive youth. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that MEGA⪠Risk Scale was mildly predictive of sexual recidivism over a 6-year period (mean follow-up = 15.6 months)-area under the curve (AUC) = .67; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.52, 0.82]; p < .015. JSORRAT-II was not predictive (AUC = .57; 95% CI = [0.42, 0.72]; p < .297). The study contributes to scant literature on the most contemporary, statistically robust risk assessment tools for sexually abusive youth.
Subject(s)
Recidivism , Risk Assessment , Sex Offenses , Adolescent , Child , Humans , Male , Prospective Studies , Residential FacilitiesABSTRACT
Applied are empirical findings supporting the authors' previously presented nomenclature identifying two subsets of sexually abusive youth overlooked by most contemporary risk assessment tools: sexually violent and predatory sexually violent youth. The cross-validation findings on an ecologically framed risk assessment tool, MEGA (âª) (Multiplex Empirically Guided Inventory of Ecological Aggregates for Assessing Sexually Abusive Children and Adolescents [Ages 19 and Under]) (N = 1,056 male and female sexually abusive youth, ages 4-19, including youth with low intellectual functioning), from the United States, Canada, England, and Scotland, were utilized. Findings provided normative data, with cutoff scores according to age and gender. Most contemporary risk assessment tools have three levels (low, moderate, and high), which may in fact be limited in assessing the range of risk level. The MEGA (âª) cross-validation established a new range of risk level, with the fourth level (very high) definitively identifying the most dangerous youth, thus empirically supporting the nomenclature of sexually violent and predatory sexually violent youth.
Subject(s)
Dangerous Behavior , Risk Assessment , Sex Offenses , Adolescent , Canada , Child , Child, Preschool , England , Female , Humans , Male , Scotland , Terminology as Topic , United States , Young AdultSubject(s)
Child Abuse, Sexual/psychology , Child Abuse, Sexual/trends , Adolescent , Child , HumansABSTRACT
This article presents a historical overview of research on sexually abusive youth. The evolution of the field over the past 30 years is discussed-from the initial development of treatment interventions to contemporary efforts of professionals to move from traditional, adult-oriented interventions toward developmentally sensitive assessment strategies and practice models. Focus is on two critical areas: risk assessment and trauma-informed care. The article reviews contemporary research on risk assessment tools, stressing the need for validated tools that can accurately assess youth and follow changes in risk over time. Etiological models for understanding effects of trauma (Trauma Outcome Process Assessment and Family Lovemap) are presented. Discussed are new ecologically based therapy models for working with sexually abusive youth that approach the youth holistically and are attuned to youths' needs, including providing interventions to address effects of past trauma.
Subject(s)
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/history , Sex Offenses/history , Sex Offenses/trends , Sexual Behavior/history , Adolescent , Child , Forecasting , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Humans , Stress Disorders, Traumatic/historyABSTRACT
The Victim to Victimizer paradigm purports to explain the connection between being a victim of sexual abuse and becoming a perpetrator, attributing sexually abusive behavior to a predictable cycle of cognitive distortions and self-destructive and/or abusive behaviors. Integration of two ecological models, Trauma Outcome Process Assessment and Family Lovemap provides a more comprehensive explanation of salient contributors to sexually abusive behavior in youth (i.e., trauma). A case example illustrates the parallel Trauma Outcome Process in a victim, and the victim's perpetrator, identifying protective factors beneficial for trauma recovery.
Subject(s)
Child Abuse, Sexual/psychology , Crime Victims/psychology , Criminals/psychology , Adolescent , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Previous definitions of sexually abusive behavior in children and adolescents were deficient in failing to (1) highlight salient neuropsychological elements and antisocial behaviors that may contribute to a youth's functioning; (2) discriminate among possible types of coercion (e.g., manipulation, threats, physical force, and use of weapons); and (3) include predatory elements of sexual abuse against strangers or casual acquaintances. This article discusses a new comprehensive assessment tool that assists in defining sexually abusive youth. This tool, the Multiplex Empirically Guided Inventory of Ecological Aggregates for Assessing Sexually Abusive Children and Adolescents (Ages 19 and under) (MEGA; Miccio-Fonseca, 2006b), encompasses neuropsychological elements, coercive aspects, and predatory elements as essential factors to consider in comprehensive assessments of sexually abusive youth.
Subject(s)
Adolescent Behavior/psychology , Child Abuse, Sexual/diagnosis , Conduct Disorder/diagnosis , Juvenile Delinquency/psychology , Risk Assessment/methods , Adolescent , Child , Child Abuse, Sexual/psychology , Conduct Disorder/psychology , Humans , Psychology, Adolescent , Psychometrics , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Recent empirical research has shown that children with sexual behavior problems and adolescents who offend sexually are diverse populations consisting of several subtypes (Hall, Mathews, & Pearce, 2002; Pithers, Gray, Busconi, & Houchens, 1998; Worling, 2001). This article reviews the descriptive and empirical research related to identifying subtypes of children with sexual behavior problems and adolescents who offend sexually. Examples of clinically and empirically derived typologies are presented. The author discusses how data from the empirically derived typologies can be incorporated within a multidimensional assessment framework based on the Trauma Outcome Process model (Burton, Rasmussen, Bradshaw, Christopherson, & Huke, 1998; Rasmussen, Burton, & Christopherson, 1992; Rasmussen, 1999, 2001, 2002). The application of this framework in assessing and treating children with sexual behavior problems and adolescents who offend sexually is described.
