An exploration of sexual abuse and subsequent sexual offenses involving male adolescents.

Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence of sex abuse during a five-year period at two of the treatment centers within The Saint Francis Academy, Incorporated. The adolescents in this study ranged from 12 to 18 years of age and had been diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorder diagnoses. There were 242 records reviewed from 1990 through 1994. In this population, 29% of the males had been sexually abused. Of this 29%, 58% of the adolescents had been sexually abused by a male, 13% had been sexually offended by a female, 8% were abused by both male and females, and 21% did not list the sex of the offender in the files. Among the adolescent sex offenders, 68% had been sexually abused prior to their abuse of another individual. This study suggests that adolescent male sex offenders have a higher rate of being sexually abused than those who have not sexually abused others. Even though this rate is higher, clinicians cannot assume sexual offenders have been sexually victimized prior to their sexual offense.