Characteristics of Juvenile Sex Offenders and Recidivism
Abstract
The etiology of juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) still poses questions associated with pre-adjudicated offense, post adjudicated status, age, mental health diagnosis and recidivism. Juvenile sex offender means a child adjudicated as a delinquent for committing any sexual offense or has been adjudicated as a delinquent child for committing any sexual offense, as defined in Section 2950.01 of the revised code. The study aimed to determine if adjudicated JSOs’ recidivism was associated with salient variables often seen throughout the juvenile’s legal process. Fear of recidivism of JSOs is prevalent within communities due to citizens’ lack of understanding of this under-researched population. The early literature regarding JSOs indicated that adolescents who perpetrated sex offenses received little notice in the research literature. Their sexual behaviors were attributed to normal experimentation, while the inquiry on deviant sexual behavior was on adult sexual offenders. Their offenses often escalated in frequency and severity over time. The findings of this study supported burgeoning efforts to identify and treat juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) to recognize this group as a distinct population for scientific research studies.