Introduction
When one hears the label “sex offender” it is associated with a negative stigma. Society has reinforced the label while encouraging individuals to associate a profile to the offender. Typical words that are connected to a sex offender may include monster, horrific, heinous, and sickening. When conceptualizing the victim, some associations made could include words such as rape, molestation, women, or even juvenile. Typically, when society hears the word juvenile being associated to a sex offense, it is assumed that the juvenile is the victim. Though this is true in some cases, there is an increasing number of sex offenses being committed by juvenile offenders. According to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), “juvenile sex offenders comprise more than one-quarter (25.8%) of all sex offenders and more than one-third (35.6%) of sex offenders against juvenile victims” (Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R., & Chaffin, M., 2009, p. 1). The following report will examine sex offenses committed by male juveniles. The report will include characteristics of the type of crime, crime factors, an application of the biosocial theory, and the strengths and limits presented by the theory.
Characteristics of the type of crime
According to Finkelhor et al (2009), the NIBRS has attempted to define a sex offense; however, states that it is difficult to concretely define a sex offense, as jurisdiction and registrations laws will vary from states as well as interpretation by officers (p. 1). For the purpose of this report, “a sex offender refers to a person who has committed either a forcible or nonforcible sex offense” (Finkelhor et al, 2009, p. 4). Finkelhor et al (as cited by the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of In...
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...t on youth who commit sex offenses. Retrieved from http://www.acacamps.org/sites/default/files/images/knowledge/Fact%20Sheet-- Youth%20Offenders.pdf
Netland, J. & Miner, M. (2012). Psychopathy traits and parental dysfunction in sexual offending and general delinquent adolescent males. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 18 (1), 4-22.
Siegel, L. (2010). Criminology the core. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2010). Sourcebook of criminal justice statistics online: crime in the U.S. in 2010. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t31072010.pdf
Vandiver, D. (2010). Assessing gender differences and co-offending patterns of a predominantly male-oriented crime: a comparison of a cross-national sample of juvenile boys and girls arrested for a sexual offense. Violence and Victims, 25 (2), 243-264.
As the system came in contact with younger and younger individuals in the sex trade, it was merely a matter of discussion, not action. It was through advocacy efforts, lobbying, and educational propagation that the message was reaching law enforcement officers, juvenile probation officers, and judges entrusted with upholding justice (Musto, 2013). Various community partners have been sought after to be trained and educated on minor sex trafficking that there was never a choice to enter the sex trade, rather an involuntary act of coercion by a traffickers (Musto, 2013). When the shift occurred from punitive to rehabilitative hope was planted for all those children still out in the sex trade fighting for their lives would not have to fear a juvenile Policies have proven to be counterproductive due to a multitude of fundamentally inapt bases to include: exaggerated statistical information inconsistently used; lack of protection safeguards for victims; inadequate resources on various levels; discretionary provisions that are incongruously applied; criminal conjecture; rigidity towards immigrant status in the sex trade; limited sanctions placed on traffickers; lack of fiscal resources; corruptive implications; and a complete lack of safety for children being reintegrated in the community (Vance, 2011). Ultimately, proving to complicate further the rehabilitation of children traumatized by sex
Many theories, at both the macro and micro level, have been proposed to explain juvenile crime. Some prominent theories include Social Disorganization theory, Differential Social Organization theory, Social Control theory, and Differential Association theory. When determining which theories are more valid, the question must be explored whether people deviate because of what they learn or from how they are controlled? Mercer L. Sullivan’s book, “Getting Paid” Youth Crime and Work in the Inner City clearly suggests that the learning theories both at the macro level, Differential social organization, and micro level, Differential association theory, are the more accurate of the two types of theory.
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 21(1), 49-66. Levenson, J.S., D’Amora, D.A., & Hern, A.L. (2007). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary'. Megan’s Law and its impact on community re-entry for sexual offenders. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 25(1), 587-602.
Holmes, R. M., & Holmes, S. T. (2009).Sex crimes: patterns and behavior (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks,Calif.:SagePublications.
Juvenile sex offenders are individuals that range in ages between six and seventeen years. There is a differentiation between what is considered a juvenile sex offender and a juvenile rapist. A juvenile rapist is generally older in the adolescent years and their victimology will be someone who is older than they are and they generally use a weapon. These crimes will also be usually male on female crimes and occur in public areas. Whereas the juvenile sex offender victimology will generally be younger than them, usually by around five years, but still at ti...
Burton, D. L., Miller, D. L., & Shill, C. T. (2002). A social learning theory comparison of the sexual victimization of adolescent sexual offenders and nonsexual offending male delinquents. Child Abuse and Neglect: The International Journal, 26, 893-907.
When it comes to the charges different states have different way of charging the sex offender. They can serve a short or longer sentence and still end up getting probation, however; they would have to register on the sex offender list. Back in 2008 South Carolina has passed a new law that sex offenders/ pedphiles have to be 100 ft from schools, daycares, neighborhoods. play grounds and etc. In this article call trial theory mentions “ In South Carolina legislation also change the first offense, failure to report to register, making it a misdemeanor punishable by no more than 30 days, where it had previously carried a mandatory 90 days in jail “(Trail Theory). Now if the sex offenders do not register they would end up getting a second offense which will give them a year in jail. While the third offense is up to 3 to 5 years if they didn't register. If the person is being convicted than that's when they serve some years. The article Steiner has written goes off and states that “first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor will serve between a minor who is 10 or younger, and a defendant of any age. This offense incurs up to 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole. Then when it comes to the 2nd charge Steiner writes “Second degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor occurs when there is sexual penetration between a minor who is 11, 12, or 13, and a defendant of any age. It also includes penetration
Vandiver, D. M., & Teske, R. (2006). Juvenile female and male sex offenders a comparison of offender, victim, and judicial processing characteristics. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 50(2), 148-165.
Sex offender legislation has been encouraged and written to protect the community and the people at large against recidivism and or to help with the reintegration of those released from prison. Nevertheless, a big question has occurred as to if the tough laws created help the community especially to prevent recidivism or make the situation even worse than it already is. Sex offenders are categorized into three levels for example in the case of the state of Massachusetts; in level one the person is not considered dangerous, and chances of him repeating a sexual offense are low thus his details are not made available to the public (Robbers, 2009). In level two chances of reoccurrence are average thus public have access to this level offenders through local police departments in level three risk of reoffense is high, and a substantial public safety interest is served to protect the public from such individuals.
3. Report of the Interagency Council on Sex Offender Treatment to the Senate Interim Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, 1993
There are many topics nowadays that are still hard to talk about openly. Though we’ve opened the door on many controversies, some of the simplest parts of life can be the hardest to discuss. For most of us, sex in particular can be a taboo topic, which may be the reason why so many children and teens are misinformed on the inner workings of sexual relationships and how they develop as we grow and mature. For some adolescents, this can lead to an unhealthy fixation on the concept of sex, and in some cases, lead them to take action on a situation they do not fully understand. Sexual offenses are perceived as some of the most heinous crimes, but how could our views be affected if those acts were performed by a teenager? We may sometimes consider that they are the same as adult sex offenders; however our judgment can often be clouded by our lack of understanding. Adolescent sex offenders are different from adult sex offenders, are treated in a different way, and often have very different circumstances of their crime.
What is sex offence or what is a sex offenders? As I tried to do some research on this subject I came across lot data and research that was completely mind blowing. A sex offender is someone who has committed sex offensive crimes. This covers a very wide range of crimes such as:
There are several identifiable psychological factors that increase the likelihood an individual will demonstrate deviant sexual behavior. One of the most important contributing factors is physical or sexual abuse endured as a child. According to Becerra-García, García-León and Egan (2012), sex offenders are twice as likely to report being sexually, emotionally, or physically abused as a child in comparison to other offenders. There are also other factors besides abuse that must be taken into consideration. A recent study on female sex offenders by Roe-Sepowitz and Krysik (2008) states, “the data reveal that many of the 118 female juvenile sex offenders came from chaotic and disorganized families and had poor parental supervision and serious school and mental health problems”. As Becerra-García, García-León and Egan (2012) discuss further, there are also personality traits that sex offenders are likely to possess, which makes it possible for psychologists to distinguish general characteristics of sex offenders. These personality traits can be identified using the Five Factor Model, which scales an individual’s level of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.
Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their crimes(Oakes 99). This presents a
In most states juvenile delinquency are criminal acts committed by minors’ ages 10 to 18 years old, the crimes are categorized as status offenders or delinquent offenders. Offenses committed by status offenders can only be committed because the offender is a minor, such as running away from home, truancy and underage drinking. (Mooney, pg 115) then there are delinquent offenders whose offenses would be a crime if they were committed by an adult. Depending on the nature of the crime, minors are tried in a juvenile justice system or can be transferred to the adult justice system. According to the Campaign for Youth Justice, it is estimated 1.7 million youths are in the juvenile justice system with 100,000 cases being heard in juvenile court annually. Currently, it is estimated that 70% of the youths arrested are boys and 30% are girls, although African-Americans make up only 17% of the total youth population, they are 30% more likely than white youth to face harsher sentences and be transferred into the adult