Criminal Careers of Juvenile Sex and Nonsex Offenders: Evidence From a Prospective Longitudinal Study. (July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McCuish, Evan; Lussier, Patrick; Corrado, Raymond
• Is Part Of: Youth violence and juvenile justice. Volume 14:Number 3(2016:Jul.)
• Page Start: 199
• Page End: 224
• Publication Date: 2016-07
• Subjects: criminal careers -- criminal trajectories -- developmental criminology -- juvenile delinquency -- juvenile sex offenders -- longitudinal data -- trajectories; Youth and violence -- United States -- Periodicals; Juvenile justice, Administration of -- United States -- Periodicals; Juvenile delinquency -- United States -- Prevention -- Periodicals; Juvenile corrections -- United States -- Periodicals; 364.360973
• DOI: 10.1177/1541204014567541
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1541-2040

Abstract

Developmental criminologists have criticized typologies of juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) for assuming that JSOs involved in nonsexual offending are a homogenous group. However, this criticism has remained largely conceptual. To help empirically address the validity of this criticism, offending trajectories from age 12 to 23 were measured for a sample of male JSOs ( n = 52) and juvenile nonsex offenders (JNSOs; n = 231) interviewed as part of the Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender study. Within this predominantly Caucasian sample, whether offender status (JSO/JNSO) or risk factors were better indicators of trajectory group membership was examined. Four unique offending trajectories emerged, namely, a low-rate offending trajectory, a bell-shaped offending trajectory, a slow-rising chronic trajectory, and a high-rate chronic trajectory. The relatively equal distribution of JSOs in each trajectory indicated that the criminal behavior committed by this group was not expressed by just one pattern. Further, the prevalence of JSOs in each trajectory mirrored the prevalence of JNSOs in the same trajectory, suggesting that having a sex offense in adolescence was not informative of general offending patterns. Individual and familial-level risk/needs factors were better indicators of trajectory membership. Implications for existing typologies of JSOs are discussed.