Objective: The aim was to understand variables contributing to the occurren
ce of sexual offending in children and adolescents.
Method: Twenty youngsters who had engaged in coercive sexual behavior invol
ving other children were compared to a matched group of clinic-referred you
ngsters with conduct disorders. Assessments included family histories, inte
rviews, and psychometric measures.
Results: There was no group difference in the frequency of experiencing sex
ual abuse. However, sexually abusive youngsters were more often exposed to
adult caregivers with known histories of being sexually abusive. These chil
dren had been subjected to multiple distortions of adult attachment, tended
to internalize distress, and failed to use available social supports. They
were likely to have experienced physical and verbal abuse; children with b
ehavior disorders were more likely to have a parent with a psychiatric illn
ess and to have experienced parental conflict.
Conclusion: Severely disrupted attachment, in conjunction with family exper
iences of inappropriate sexual expression, place children and adolescents a
t risk for sexual offending. Sexually abusive youngsters had less social su
pports and their offending occurred after a negative emotional experience,
when there was opportunity in the form of younger victims. The study sugges
ts an interaction among developmental pathways, coping skills, and immediat
e proximal variables for the perpetration of sexual abuse by young people.
(C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.