NCJ Number
175423
Date Published
1997
Length
78 pages
Annotation
This book identifies and explains the cycle involved in the commission of sexual offenses by adolescents and describes treatment methods designed to obstruct this cycle and prevent reoffending.
Abstract
The first chapter discusses the significance of adolescent sexual offenses and presents incidence statistics, outlines the adolescent sexual offense histories of adult sex offenders, and discusses the potential progression from victim to victimizer. The second chapter profiles the cycle of the offense. It consists of specific steps in two phases: a smaller, pre-offense, or "everyday" cycle, and a larger, offense-specific cycle. The steps inside the cycle indicate steps the offender may take that culminate in a sexual offense. The steps outside the cycle indicate the choice points or exits the offender may use at each step of the cycle to prevent the offense. The chapter explains how the cycle structures sex offender treatment and recovery. The third chapter discusses the steps of the cycle of the offense and describes how adolescent sex offenders may move through the steps of the pre-offense and offense cycles to culminate in sexually offending against a child. The fourth chapter examines relapse prevention by detailing each step of the offense cycle; identifying the relapse prevention exit for that step; and outlining the changes in beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors the adolescent must undergo. The use of the offense cycle in treatment is discussed in the fifth chapter, followed by a concluding chapter on how to introduce the cycle to collateral staff and parents of the offender. Illustrative diagrams, 64 references, and appended supplementary material