Final Project: Family Treatment for Youth Sexual Offenders

Abstract

Sexual offending behavior is a global problem that seriously affects public safety, particularly when committed by juveniles. Although research on juvenile sexual offenders (JSOs) has increased recently, much of this work has been conducted with adolescent and young adult populations in Western countries. As a result, there remains a dearth of knowledge about JSOs in other parts of the world, especially in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).. The current study addressed this conducting a systematic review of the existing literature on JSOs in LMICs. A total of 22 studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. The findings indicated that JSOs in LMICs are younger people and to have committed more severe offenses than their counterparts in Western countries. They are also more likely to come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and to have experienced more family dysfunction, including violence and substance abuse. Despite these differences, the risk factors for JSOs in LMICs appeared to be similar to those in Western countries. The implications of these findings for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.

Final Project: Family Treatment for Youth Sexual Offenders

The family environment plays a critical role in influencing children’s behavioral outcomes. The social context includes the roles of parents in modeling behavior and ethical principles right from childhood and how well the children use such values to develop their personality and morality in adolescent decisions. In this regard, sexual offending among the youth has become a major problem. Further victimization of the offenders by society, family, and workplaces increases the risk of recidivism and commission of other offenses. Therefore, integration treatments, especially for the youth offenders with a focus on family-based intervention, can substantially help reduce the offending behavior and model behaviors of the youth to become productive community members. This literature review will focus on quantitative and qualitative research on the family-based experiences that lead to the commission of sexual offenses and various family treatment approaches that can help alleviate the problem and reduce the youth’s recidivism.

Background

Sexual offenses are becoming prevalent among adolescents. According to a qualitative study done by Keelan and Fremouw (2013), adolescents contribute to almost 50% of all child sexual abuse crimes and perpetrate at least 20% of the sexual assaults. The statistics indicate a serious issue of sexual offending among young people, especially adolescents. The trend has continued where most of the victims are children, and the offenders of such victims are mostly juveniles. Some continue the behavior to include both the child and peer victims in the sexual offending behaviors. In most families, this is a critical problem. Långström et al. (2015) in their quantitative survey spanning over 37 years indicate that most sexually offending behaviors run in the family through inherited genes and the environmental factors that encourage the liability of sexually offending. These findings, therefore, contribute to the location of the family as the center of intervention to prevent adolescent sexual offenses and recidivism for the offenders re-entering the community from a treatment program. While society can play a big role in the behavioral change, most juvenile cases are kept away from public attention and treated as juveniles who need a connection to treatments that help them stop the behavior. Therefore, the family is the most immediate community resource that should be integrated into the treatment process by not only playing a role in preventing victimization but also investigating internal factors that contribute to encouraging sexual offending behaviors.

Problem Statement

Juvenile sexual offenders are on the rise, becoming a significant portion of the demographic committing sexual crimes. At the adolescent age, most teenagers experience many emotional and physiological changes that may increase their risk of sexual offense if there are no interventions to prevent such behavior (Keelan & Fremouw, 2013). The family environment is a crucial critical social institutions to help reduce such behaviors. Much focus has been on reducing the offending behavior through various treatment programs. However, very few studies have considered the role of family-oriented treatment programs, which is critical to behavioral change. Besides, the youth sex offenders are more vulnerable to reoffending and failing to show positive results from a sexual offending treatment program if there are no interventions to prevent victimization that can lead to recidivism upon reentry.

This literature review aims to address this issue from a family-oriented approach and seek the most effective ways of integrating the family in administering treatment to reduce sexual offending behaviors and recidivism among the youth. To help achieve this purpose, the following research question will guide the study:

1. What are the critical components of family-oriented treatment for young sexual offenders to reduce recidivism and sexual offending behavior?
2. What is the role of the family in facilitating sexual offending behavior change?

Hypothesis

Altenative Hypothesis

Family treatment reduces sexual offending behavior and recidivism rates among young sexual offenders because most of the risk to offend factors emanate from the family environment.

Null Hypothesis

Family treatment does not reduce sexual offending behavior and recidivism rates among young sexual offenders

Literature Review

Sexual offenders are always condemned in society, and rightly so. Society frowns on such behavior as it is a vice everyone fights against. Researchers and stakeholders in social work collaborate to find ways to minimize and potentially eliminate this unwanted behavior. There is a growing need to find optimal and sustainable solutions to this problem. As a result, interventions are staged at different levels to eliminate the chances of it happening or control damages. Research indicates that the family construct is crucial in minimizing sexual offending through communication and care (Bovard-Jones et al., 2015). In this study, the authors noted the impact of exposure to traumatic events on victims. That some prolonged psychological distress emanates from experiencing trauma

From a sample size of 332 participants who included youths throughout a Midwestern state, the researchers were able to identify consistency in all variables. This is backed by a good level of reliability in all variables, a Cronbach’s alpha value of more than .70 in all the variables evaluated. None of the variables, anxiety, depression, dissociation, sexual abuse, sexual problems, and sleep disturbance, had a standard deviation that was higher than the mean. Therefore, the measure of dispersion across all variables was consistent. The study’s p-value of <.05 showed that the variables assessed had statistical significance. The research was reliable based on measures of central tendency and dispersion; therefore, the findings apply to the given population. All correlations and regression analysis in the variables had a p-value of <.05. In conclusion, this study is reliable in the given area of research.

Research indicates advocacy for a holistic approach to the treatment programs offered to young sexual offenders adjudicated with a sexual offense  (Yoder et al., 2017). Utilizing 234 juvenile sexual offenders from Lucas County Juvenile Court in Ohio, the authors concluded that addressing the criminogenic risk factors such as prosocial skills and criminal values for offending behaviors among juvenile sexual offenders that received holistic programming resulted in the effective reduction of recidivism and behavioral transformation. Also, lasting solutions emanate from studying the root causes and addressing them directly to ensure all chances of repetition are covered via continuous monitoring.

The statistical summary of descriptive statistics in the study by Yoder and colleagues showed that there were no outliers in the Lucas County program. The selection of participants in the study was consistent with the expected representation in the sample population’s demographics. However, the study consisted mostly of males, accounting for 96.3% of the participants. This is a major issue that may not reflect the reality of the population represented by the participants. A Cronbach’s alpha value of .68-.73 shows that this study’s reliability level is acceptable. It is worth noting that the reliability evaluation for the sample population took into account three separate groups and reported for each group independently. One group had an acceptable level of reliability while the other two (different groups and overall) had strong reliability.

A p-value of <0.001 shows that the total OYAS score had statistical significance in the study. The family living arrangements for the participants also posted a similar p-value (<0.001) and, therefore, of statistical significance. Prosocial skills, values, beliefs, and attitudes had a p-value of <0.05 and therefore were significant in the study.

DeLisi et al. (2014) conducted a survey about incarcerated youth sex offenders to determine the influence of sexual abuse victimization when they were children and their contribution to sexual offending. In this case, the authors collected data from 2520 male juvenile offenders incarcerated in one of the large southern states of the US (DeLisi et al., 2014). Using regression models to determine the likelihood of sexual offending in later periods, the researchers found a cycle of violence whereby the juvenile offenders who went through child sexual abuse had a higher likelihood of sexual offending when they became adolescents (DeLisi et al., 2014).

Statistics show a strong link between children’s victimization when they are young and their propensity to become offenders as adults. From a sample size of 2520, the study had consistency in the descriptive summary statistics, which showed no outliers but sexual abuse in the family risk factors. This variable was a clear outlier because of its distinct z-value. However, all the variables and domains assessed returned a p-value of <.05 in the study to show that they had statistical significance.

In the same way, the method has been applied in analyzing other issues of the cycle of violence whereby a person who experienced domestic violence when young is likely to commit the same crime when they grew up. All this is majorly predetermined by the characteristics of the family environment, which can impact the risk of offending when an individual becomes a teenager or young adult. This study did not assess the levels of reliability in the findings and the variables assessed. Therefore, it is hard to tell if the data can be relied upon as representative of the given study population. However, the large sample size translates to a good study for reference purposes on the assessment of summary statistics, measures of dispersion, and central tendencies.

In a 2012 study, the author followed 173 juvenile sexual offenders after release from a treatment facility for two years to determine the risk of recidivism (Calley, 2012). In the findings, the author noted a 23.9% recidivism rate, and one factor that significantly impacted the recidivism risk was the offender type, especially those who combined with substance abuse issues. In addition, other factors such as program completion status, parents’ criminal history, child welfare system involvement, family support, and parental rights termination positively impacted the treatment outcomes if they were considered during placement and adjudication (Calley, 2012).

The population distribution is very inconsistent with representative ratios for the various groups in the country. The majority groups have a lower representation in the sample population and, therefore, a subjective ratio. Of all the variables assessed, only the offender type had a p-value of <0.05. As a result, the variables evaluated in this study had negligible to no statistical significance in the study. This indicates an inconsistency in the research process where variables were not carefully selected. The variations in the sample population distribution and lack of statistical significance in the variables and parameters may result from subjectivity in the study or the research process. Ethical and validity issues (internal and external) can arise from the impartiality of this study. Therefore, this research cannot be reliable due to subjectivity and lack of statistical significance in the variables.

Summary

From the literature review, three main issues are addressed by studies. First, most youth sex offenders are not treated as criminals but referred to special treatment programs aimed at transforming their sexually offending behaviors and risk of recidivism. There is also a need to evaluate particular variables that lead to sexual offending behavior and available therapy options that can reduce the risk. Second, many of these risk factors are largely determined by issues inside the household and around the environment, such as past instances of child sexual abuse, lack of bonding, and stress caused by domestic violence, among other things. These factors contribute to the victimization of juvenile sexual offenders leading to them becoming sexual offenders later in life and high rates of recidivism. Lastly, family-oriented treatment programs that address the risk factors within the family environment and ensure collaboration in the treatment and reentry programs proved to be holistic and more effective hence adopted by many treatment centers for programs aimed at adolescents and young people.

Implications

Therefore, the research implications are the intensity of treatment programs using a multi-disciplinary team that is a family oriented as an effective way of treating sexual offending behavior and preventing recidivism among adolescent and young sexual offenders. This is critical as addressing some of the risk factors within the family environment, especially the exposure the children are exposed to, protection against child sexual abuse, substance abuse, better parenting styles, and prevention of victimization, among others.

Ideas for Future Research

Most studies still have gaps in the impact of family treatment and family-oriented therapies on reducing recidivism. Although most indicate mitigation of factors within the family environment, some of the sexual offenses among the juveniles are not only enhanced by family issues, the connectivity to the internet, and the nature of some of the video games. These are just some of the other factors which can lead to how best parents and other agencies in the content provider can help the youths not to be exposed to content that can result in sexual offending behaviors. This nature of addiction to video games or other inappropriate sites needs to be addressed in the sexual treatment programs.

Conclusion

Juvenile sexual offenders consist of a sizeable demographic of sexual offenders worldwide. Most of the offenders are male. Issues, especially in family settings, such as parents’ criminal history, violence at home, victimization, child sexual abuse, and lack of attachment in the family relationship, have been mentioned as the most contributing factors to juvenile sexual offending behaviors. As a result, some of the family-oriented treatment programs which have become increasingly important due to their effectiveness, such as functional family therapy, can help in behavioral transformation. The aim is not only to reduce the rates of young sexual offenders but also to reduce recidivism once a treatment program is completed. Despite the implications, there is still a need to include more research on how parenting styles and content creators can increase the vulnerability of juveniles to committing sexual offenses.

References

Calley, N. (2012). Juvenile Offender Recidivism: An Examination of Risk Factors. Journal Of Child Sexual Abuse, 21(3), 257-272. doi: 10.1080/10538712.2012.668266

DeLisi, M., Kosloski, A., Vaughn, M., Caudill, J., & Trulson, C. (2014). Does Childhood Sexual Abuse Victimization Translate Into Juvenile Sexual Offending? New Evidence. Violence and Victims, 29(4), 620-635. doi: 10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-13-00003

Keelan, C., & Fremouw, W. (2013). Child versus peer/adult offenders: A critical review of the juvenile sex offender literature. Aggression And Violent Behavior, 18(6), 732-744. doi: 10.1016/j.avb.2013.07.026

Långström, N., Babchishin, K., Fazel, S., Lichtenstein, P., & Frisell, T. (2015). Sexual offending runs in families: A 37-year nationwide study. International Journal Of Epidemiology, 44(2), 713-720. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyv029

Yoder, J., Dillard, R., Lovins, L., & Berry, S. (2017). Evaluation II: Risk outcomes from a specialized treatment and management program for youth who commit sexual crimes. Journal Of Offender Rehabilitation, 56(5), 308-330. doi: 10.1080/10509674.2017.1327919