Juvenile Sex Offenders Essay example

Most research indicates that about ninety percent of juvenile sex offenders are male. However, there is also research indicating there may be a considerable underrepresentation of the female juvenile offender in data. According to Schwartz, Cavanaugh, Pimental, and Prentky, although the vast majority of sexually aggressive youth are male, the proportion that is female appears to be much greater than is commonly observed among adult sex offenders, which may indicate that abuse by adolescent females is reported at a significantly lower rate than abuse by male adolescents (2006). One explanation for this is that the general public tends to struggle with the idea that a young woman could be capable of such perverse behavior. It should also be considered that male victims may have more difficulty reporting a sexual crime against them when the perpetrator is someone that society has taught them is the inferior gender (Hendriks, Bijleveld 2006). As a whole, female abusers have been researched very little, and juvenile female abusers have been virtually ignored in the field of criminological study.

To the ordinary citizen, when a person breaks the law, they are titled as a criminal and receive a direct punishment from the state for their wrongdoing. This punishment is seen as straightforward and simple when in reality it is far from it. For instance, if a person were to be convicted of burglary and received a punishment of 6 years in a state penitentiary, the average citizen would think nothing of it. In reality, that punishment carries much more weight as time goes along with extended “invisible” punishments called collateral consequences. These punishments are not seen by the average citizen because they manifest outside of traditional sentencing and can stay with the offender permanently. Some of these consequences are restrictions

Sexual offenses, typically conducted with minors, are crimes when a person commits a crime involving a sexual act. Prevention strategies for sexual offending behavior have become increasingly important in the United States. The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States. It aims to close potential gaps and loopholes that existed under prior law and generally strengthens the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification programs. California was the first state to pass the Sex Offender registration Law in 1946.

Of all the violent crimes in America, sexual assault has become one of the fastest growing misconduct under this category. Of those found guilty of sexual offenses, 25% of them were juveniles. Of these offenses that occurred within adult offenders, 50% of them announced that their first offense happened during their pubescent stage (Martin, 2009). To get a hold of the increasing number of juvenile sex offenders, they are many opinion related solutions, other routes like treatment methods, and of course answers within legislation that could possibly reduce or prevent this issue directly. There are some concerns that have been brought to attention with regards to the psychological and behavioral modification treatments that is administered

As with any criminal whether being released from their first offense or being a veteran to the system, each runs the risk of becoming repeat offender with a new crime they have never committed or going back to their comfort zone crime. Regarding female sex offenders they also run the risk of becoming repeat offender to a sex crime or a non-related sex crime. Female offenders with higher number of victims or higher amounts of non-relating crimes are in risk of recidivism at a higher rate. According to Witt & Pirelli (2016) several risk factors for sex offending to consider with female sexual offenders are as follow:

A Sex Offender is defined as a person convicted of certain sex offense crimes. These crimes can range from indecent exposure to possession of child pornography to sexual assault and rape. Sex Offenders can be male or female, range from age twelve to one hundred and twelve, married or single, and high socioeconomic standing or low. There is no definitive characteristics of a sex offender.

Morgan, L. W., McClendon, L. S., McCarty, J., & Zinck, K. (2016). Supporting every child: School counselors’ perceptions of juvenile sex offenders in schools. Journal of School Counseling, 14. Retrieved from http://www.jsc.montana.edu/articles/v14n1.pdf

What is going to be covered in this paper is what is not typically covered in mainstream media. The media often reports the sexual offenses perpetrated against minors by adults. What I will be covering is, more specifically, the sexual offenses of juveniles against other minors. Some offenders begin offending as young as twelve years old. The victims of juveniles often are within the age bracket of being

This literature review is going to research the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the current model for sex offender treatment in regards to completion and recidivism. This is a highly salient topic to the safety and well-being of communities, families, as well as to the victims of these crimes. Currently, there is a lack of evidence-based correction and therapies within the systems and as a result, many offenders are not receiving the most applicable or useful therapy possible.

Who are these kids? These juvenile sex offenders are not of a specific age or gender. It is happening in many households without the parents even knowing about it. Just like it happens when children are molested by a relative they also don’t report it because they are afraid or many times don’t even know that what they are doing to them is wrong. Again this shows that we as parents may be failing in the way we are raising our kids or interacting with them, as children should not feel that what’s happening to them is their fault and should feel safe enough to report it to their parents, or authorities. An estimated 90 percent of all child sexual abuse incidents involve people known to the young victims, and 60 percent of that number is mainly

Research has shown that sex offenders are perceived by society as remorseless, heartless, dangerous, monsters (Blanchard, 1995; Marshall 1996) with the only considered punishment being to, “lock em up and throw away the key” (Scheela, 2001 p.749).

There is an ongoing societal concern regarding sexual abuse among adults and children (Oliver, Wong, & Nicholaichuk, 2009). Sexually based offenses have a significant impact on its victims, their families, and society as a whole. Once an offender is released, continuous assessments are recommended to ensure a slim chance of recidivism. Since treatment programs are considered to be an important asset in decreasing the recidivism of sexual violence, it is important to focus on various techniques that will further eliminate sexual re-offending. With the increase of various techniques and methods used, these programs have progressed over the last half of the century (Jung & Gulayets, 2011). However, there are arguments that claim these treatment

Although psychological interventions, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, are widely used in treating sexual offenders, treatment facilitators feel that sexual offenders with higher levels of sexual preoccupations aren’t responding as successfully as sexual offenders with lower levels of sexual preoccupations. In hopes of addressing the needs of sexual offenders with higher levels of sexual preoccupations and preventing sexual recidivism, approaches such as pharmacological treatment are being studied.

Juvenile offending is a concern in society today. Juveniles account for approximately 19% of the population but are responsible for 29% of criminal arrests (Cottle, Lee, & Heilbrun, 2001). Crime overall has been found to be decreasing throughout the last two decades. The issue is that the rate in which adult crime is decreasing is significantly greater than the rate in which juvenile crime is decreasing. Since the rate of juvenile crime is so high, juvenile delinquents are seen as predators and many believe they lack morals. The way in which media of today’s society constructs juvenile delinquency impacts the views of a community towards their youth and youth offenders. Media presents an inaccurate image of youth offenders as violent predators (Rhineberger-Dunn, 2013). This inaccurate image significantly promotes the myths that juvenile crime is rising, juveniles commit crimes that are primarily violent, and that juveniles are highly effected by recidivism and continue committing crimes into adulthood (Bohm, & Walker, 2013). It has already been stated though that crime rates have been decreasing over the last two decades so the first myth is refuted. The myth that juveniles primarily commit violent crimes is also very off. In most cases, juveniles are involved in property crimes and although there are some violent crime cases, they are very rare. When these rare violent crimes do occur, youth can be tried in adult court. The

In our society today, juvenile delinquency is causing a lot of problems for the police force and for anyone connected to juvenile justice system. I give all my respect for people who work in law enforcement and for those who are social workers. These people put their lives at risk everyday when they put on the uniform and go out to patrol the streets to keep the peace and uphold the laws of America. The youth in our society today have no respect for authority and will not obey laws because they think they are untouchable. Personally, I think a lot of this falls back on the parents. A lot of parents nowadays are just as bad as the youths and are not good role models. According to the Department of Justice, “The juvenile arrest rates for all crimes reached its highest level in past two decades in 1996, and declined by 68% by 2015”. According to the Department of Justice, “In 2015, 2,751 juveniles were arrested per 100,000 juveniles ranging from the age 10 to 17”. According to the Department of Justice, “Following a steady decline since 2006, the juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate reached a new historic low-point in 2012”. The violent crime trend for juveniles has been on steady decline since 1994. According to the Department of Justice, “The juvenile arrest rate for all crimes decreased substantially for both males and females since the peak in 1996, and is at the lowest level for both genders since 1980”. Also, on a side note juvenile males are still committing crimes