Examining Antisocial Behavioral Antecedents of Juvenile Sexual Offenders and Juvenile Non-Sexual Offenders

Abstract

Prior studies have indicated that that there is an “antisocial” type of juvenile sex offender (JSO) that resembles juvenile non-sex offenders (JNSOs). However, a single categorization of all antisocial JSOs may be too broad given that there are different types of antisocial behavior (e.g., authority conflict, overt, covert). To clarify potential differences between JSOs and JNSOs, different antisocial behavior patterns should be explored and compared between these two groups. This study examined data on Canadian male incarcerated adolescent offenders to identify whether behavioral antecedents differed within JSOs (n = 51), and between JSOs and JNSOs (n = 94). Latent class analysis identified three behavioral groups. For both JSOs and JNSOs there was a Low Antisocial, Overt, and Covert group. Risk factors including offence history, abuse history, and family history were more strongly associated with the Overt and Covert groups compared to the Low Antisocial group. Overall, there were important within-group differences in the behavioral patterns of JSOs, but these differences resembled differences within their JNSO counterpart. Clinical implications for responding to incarcerated JSOs with behavioral problems are discussed.