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Current American policies and responses to juvenile sex offending have been criticized for being based on myths, misconceptions, and unsubstantiated claims. In spite of the criticism, no organizing framework has been proposed to guide policy development with respect to the prevention of juvenile sex offending. This article proposes a developmental life course (DLC) criminology perspective to investigate the origins, development, and termination of sex offending among youth. It also provides a review of the current state of knowledge regarding various parameters characterizing the development of sex offending (e.g., prevalence, age of onset, frequency, persistence, continuity in adulthood, and versatility). The review highlights some heterogeneity across these developmental parameters suggesting the presence of different sex offending patterns among youth. In fact, it is proposed that, based on the current knowledge, such heterogeneity can be accounted for by a dual taxonomy of adolescents involved in sexual offenses: (a) the adolescent-limited and (b) the high-rate/slow-desister. The DLC criminology approach and the dual taxonomy are proposed as organizing frameworks to conduct prospective longitudinal research to better understand the origins and development of sex offending and to guide policy development and responses to at-risk youth and those who have committed sexual offenses.

Explanatory and sociolegal theoretical perspectives -- "Sex offender" : theory and research in context : the relative absence of a criminological perspective / Patrick Lussier and Eric Beauregard -- Integrating general and specific theories of sex offending : a path-breaking perspective / Patrick Lussier and Jeff Mathesius -- Sexually coercive decision making : a rational choice approach / Amelie Pedneault -- Criminal justice policies : the intended and unintended consequences of monitoring individuals convicted of sex crimes / Shawn M. Rolfe and Richard Tewksbury -- Desistance and the rise of rehabilitation / Danielle Arlanda Harris and D. Richard Laws -- Treatment and management of youths who have perpetrated sexual harm / Michael H. Miner and Nicholas P. Newstrom -- The media, public opinion, and sex offender policy in the u.s. / Christina Mancini Section -- Special topics 8. taking a criminal career approach to sexual offending / Arjan Blokland -- Sexual exploitation and human trafficking / Joan A. Reid -- A developmental life course viewpoint on juvenile sex offending / Evan C. McCuish and Patrick Lussier -- Sexual assault on the college campus / Walter S. DeKeseredy -- Sexual offending and the catholic church / Karen J. Terry -- Online sexual exploitation of children: reactive and proactive policing / Francis Fortin and Sarah Paquette -- Female sexual offending / Miriam Wijkman and Jeffrey C. Sandler -- Lethal outcome in sexual crimes : a criminological perspective on sexual homicide / Eric Beauregard -- Practical application of research -- Criminal investigation of sexual offenses / Nadine Deslauriers-Varin, Craig Bennell and Andréanne Bergeron -- Classification of perpetrators of sexual offences : an overview of three generations of research and development / Jesse Cale -- The risk assessment of offenders with a history of sexual crime: past, present and new perspectives / Sébastien Brouillette-Alarie and Patrick Lussier -- A system assessing the risk of first-time and repeat sexual offending for correctional populations / Grant Duwe -- From the "sex offender" to sex offending : a necessary conceptual shift / Eric Beauregard and Patrick Lussier --

"There is growing recognition that sexual offending is a multi-determined phenomenon requiring a multi-disciplinary perspective. The significant contribution of psychology and psychiatry, but also sociology, gender studies and anthropology to the study of sex offending and perpetrators of sex offenses has played a key role in the development of a distinct field of research. In recent years, however, there has been an increase in criminological research on the topic, introducing criminological theory and concepts, scientific evidence and observations, and new methodologies to the field. This book brings together international leading scholars to consider key topics on sex offending and, where possible, compare and contrast criminological viewpoints with those of other disciplines, such as psychology and psychiatry. This book considers the following questions:Are the key explanatory factors of sex offenses completely distinct and different from those of non-sex crime and delinquency?Are current models explaining adult sex offending also applicable to explain sex crimes on college campuses, female sex offending, sexual exploitation, sexual homicide, or child luring over the internet? Are todays youth involved in sex offenses tomorrows adult perpetrators of sex crimes? What is the risk of sexual recidivism and are risk assessment tools effective to identify individuals at-risk of committing another sex crime in the future? Are current legal measures used to prevent sex crimes effective? What are the known effects of such measures?What are the issues and challenges related to the criminal investigation of sex offenses? This book is essential reading for students and researchers from disciplines such as criminology, psychiatry, psychology, sexology, social work and sociology, as well as criminal justice professionals and practitioners such as police investigators, prosecutors, judges, probation/parole officers, and treatment providers/counsellors involved with individuals having perpetrated sex offenses."--Provided by publisher.

Currently, a majority of actuarial risk-assessment tools for sexual recidivism contain static risk factors that measure various aspects of the offender's prior criminal history in adulthood. The goal of the current study was to assess the utility of extending static risk factors, by using developmental and criminal career parameters of offending, in the actuarial assessment of risk of violent/sexual recidivism. The current study was based on a sample of 204 convicted sexual aggressors of women incarcerated in the province of Quebec, Canada between April 1994 and June 2000. Semistructured interviews were used to gather information on the offender's antisocial history prior to adulthood, and police records were used to collect data on the criminal career of these offenders in adulthood. For an average follow-up period of approximately 4 years, the violent/sexual recidivism rate for the sample was 23.7%. The results provided support for the inclusion of both developmental and criminal career indicators for the prediction of violent/sexual recidivism. More specifically, recidivists were characterized by an early onset antisocial trajectory and a pattern of escalation of antisocial behavior between childhood and adolescence. The findings suggest that risk assessors should look beyond broad adult criminal history data to include aspects of antisocial development to improve predictive accuracy.

Recent explanatory models of sexual aggression of women have emphasized the role of an antisocial tendency in explaining sexual aggression. If those models agree about the importance of an antisocial propensity, they disagree about the presence of a single or multiple pathways leading to sexual aggression. Currently, no empirical studies have examined within-individual changes of antisocial behavior in youth of sexual aggressors of women and whether those changes are related to the unfolding of the sexual and nonsexual criminal activity in adulthood. This study examines the presence of antisocial trajectories in childhood and adolescence using a sample of 209 convicted adult sexual aggressors of women. A dynamic classification procedure using cluster analyses yields five distinct antisocial trajectories, which are then compared using analysis of covariance on various parameters of criminal activity in adulthood. The results highlight the heterogeneity of antisocial development in youth of adult sexual aggressors of women. Patterns of initiation, persistence, and escalation in youth are related to the general, violent, and sexual offending in adulthood.

Three hypotheses have been used to describe the male propensity for sexual aggression towards women: a general propensity to offend, a specific propensity to sexually offend and a combination of both. In this paper, using structural equation modeling, we compared the relative utility of these three hypotheses in explaining criminal activity in adulthood of sexual aggressors of women. In total, 209 adult males who were convicted of at least one sexual offence were included in the study. Results indicate that a propensity model emphasizing the role of an early and persistent general propensity to act in an antisocial manner during childhood and adolescence is most adequate to explain sexual aggressors' criminal activity. After controlling for the role of this propensity, a specific propensity characterized by high sexualization and deviant sexual interests explained only a modest proportion of variance of the sexual criminal activity.

The aim of this study was to investigate sexual aggressors' perceptions of effectiveness of strategies to cope with high-risk situations and their reasons for not using the adaptive coping strategies they learned in treatment. A total of 32 sexual aggressors, incarcerated in a maximum security psychiatric institution, filled out the Coping Strategy Report daily for 2 months. A lack of will, ignorance, and an emotional disturbance were the most frequently reported reasons for not using adaptive coping strategies to deal with a negative mood, whereas anticipation of failure and emotional disturbance were most frequently reported with interpersonal conflicts. For deviant sexual fantasies, child molesters most frequently reported a lack of will and an anticipation of failure as justification for not using adaptive coping strategies, whereas sexual aggressors of women most frequently reported a lack of will and emotional disturbance. For negative moods and interpersonal conflicts, behavioral strategies, such as social skills, were reported to be the most effective. Cognitive strategies, such as covert sensitization, were reported to be most effective for coping with deviant sexual fantasies. Theoretical and clinical implications of these results are discussed.