THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHALLOMETRICALLY MEASURED DEVIANT SEXUAL AROUSAL AND CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS IN JUVENILE SEXUAL OFFENDERS

The current study examined the relationship between clinical character istics and a phallometrically derived deviance quotient index in two s amples of 44 and 54 juvenile sex offenders. Results support an associa tion between higher measured deviant arousal and having a male victim only, consistent with the literature on adult child molesters. However , results reflected greater fluidity in the offense patterns of the ju venile offenders, and generally less correspondence between measured a rousal and offense histories than what has been cited for adults. The authors review whether there is empirical support for a conditioning m odel of deviant arousal onset in juveniles, and suggest caution in the interpretation of phallometric data with this population.