Unfinished stories: from juvenile sex offenders to juvenile sex offending through a developmental life course perspective

Authors:
McCUISH Evan C., LUSSIER Patrick
Journal article citation:
Aggression and Violent Behavior, 37, 2017, pp.71-82.
Publisher:
Elsevier

The developmental context in which adolescent sexually abusive or aggressive behaviours arise is not fully considered by current policies. The perception of adolescents as sexual predators on a life-course persistent pattern of sexual offending has largely contributed to the current, more punitive, sociolegal context. The authors suggest that myths, misconceptions, and unsubstantiated claims about adolescents involved in sexually abusive behaviour have persisted due to the abundance of research focusing on the “offender”, neglecting the “offence”, and the two being confused as one: the juvenile sex offender. The authors describe the current state of knowledge on the characteristics of adolescents involved in sexually abusive or aggressive behaviour and present the developmental life course criminology perspective as a framework for organising research on the course of juvenile sexual offending, including the process leading up to the behaviour and what happens in adulthood. Important research questions and the associated research design and measurement tools necessary to address these questions are presented to better understand the dynamic aspect of juvenile sex offending, its onset, course, and termination. (Edited publisher abstract)

Subject terms:
young offenders, sex offenders, young people, young sex offenders, behaviour, violence, behaviour problems;
Content type:
research
Location(s):
Canada
Link:
Journal home page
ISSN print:
1359-1789

Key to icons

  • Free resource Free resource
  • Journal article Journal article
  • Book Book
  • Digital media Digital media
  • Journal Journal

Give us your feedback

Social Care Online continues to be developed in response to user feedback.

Contact us with your comments and for any problems using the website.

Sign up/login for more

Register/login to access resource links, advanced search and email alerts