First Advisor

Keith Kaufman

Term of Graduation

Spring 2020

Date of Publication

5-15-2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Applied Psychology

Department

Psychology

Language

English

Subjects

Child sex offenders -- Psychology, Teenage sex offenders -- Psychology, Sex offenders, Psychosexual disorders -- Treatment, Sex crimes -- Prevention, Sexual fantasies, Sexting

DOI

10.15760/etd.7341

Physical Description

1 online resource (viii, 154 pages)

Abstract

Juvenile sexual offenders (SOs) have been found to account for a significant proportion of sexual offenses. A critical gap has been identified in our knowledge regarding the role of sexual fantasy and sexual behavior in juvenile sexual offending, even though these variables have been identified as an important treatment target for this population. Specifically, it is not clear if SOs differ significantly from juvenile non-sexual offenders (NSOs) in their sexual fantasies and sexual behavior and as such, if reports of fantasies and past sexual behaviors should be used as a target for sex offender specific treatment. This study explored differences on these two critical dimensions in a sample of 268 adjudicated, male, juvenile SOs and NSOs, in the care of the Oregon Youth Authority. Participants resided in four youth correctional facilities across the state of Oregon. The goals of this study were to, first, investigate differences in sexual fantasies experienced in the last 12 months by these subgroups. Second, to explore the predictive utility of deviant sexual fantasies and sexual behavior in predicting group membership (i.e., SO or NSO). Third, this study investigated differences in the relationship between deviant sexual fantasy and deviant sexual behavior for these two offender groups (i.e., SO and NSO). Finally, subgroup differences between these two groups' use of "sexting" were explored. Solitary sexual acts and voyeurism were significant predictors of offender group membership, after controlling for nondeviant sexual behavior, and significant group differences were also found in consensual sexting behavior. Overall, analyses focused on sexual fantasy resulted in nonsignificant results. Findings are discussed in relation to implications for treatment, prevention, and policy work in this area.

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Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/33284

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