NCJ Number
254418
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 46 Issue: 1 Dated: 2019 Pages: 63-81
Date Published
2019
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined three subgroups within a sample of 176 male adolescents adjudicated for a sexual offense, with the subgroups determined by the age of their victims, a popular method of subtyping that has mixed empirical support.
Abstract
The offenders had been court-ordered to participate in a community-based collaborative intervention program that integrated treatment and probation services. Differences were expected between groups based on theories regarding victim-age-based subtypes, in addition to differences consistently identified in prior research. Results indicate that these three subgroups were more similar than different, although some expected differences were found. Juveniles with child victims were more likely to have male victims and biologically related victims. Juveniles with peer/adult victims were more likely to have poor monitoring by their parents and were more likely to have been arrested again. Juveniles with mixed types of victims appeared similar to juveniles with child victims on some variables and similar to those with peer/adult victims on others. Treatment implications and future directions for research are discussed. The study suggests that offender typologies based on the clinical characteristics of the youth rather than offense characteristics may have more promise for identifying meaningful subgroups. (publisher abstract modified)