He. Barbaree et al., THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEVIANT SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR AMONG ADOLESCENTS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT, Irish journal of psychology, 19(1), 1998, pp. 1-31
The present article examines the development oi deviant sexual behavio
ur in adolescence and its implications for attempts to prevent sexual
assault: and to rehabilitate the sex offender. A general framework to
account for the etiology of sexual deviance is presented. In the frame
work, abusive family experiences lead to predictable consequences in t
he developing sex offender that can be best described as a syndrome of
social disability. The characteristics that comprise this syndrome in
clude: lack of adult attachments, low self-esteem, impaired abilities
to develop intimate relationships and empathy, and varying degrees of
antisocial behaviour. Each of these is described in developmental term
s. These social disabilities then set the stage for the development of
abusive sexual behaviour. According to the proposed framework, the de
velopment of deviant sexual interest and arousal follows from the offe
nder's experience of sexual abuse, both as an abuser and, for some ind
ividuals, as a victim. Throughout the article, implications for effect
ive treatment of the sex offender are presented and discussed.