CORRELATES OF ADOLESCENT MALE SEXUAL OFFENSE - PRIOR ADULT SEXUAL CONTACT, SEXUAL ATTITUDES, AND USE OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIALS

Juvenile sex offenders have been the subject of increasing interest to researchers, clinicians, and criminologists in recent years. In the p resent study the authors explored the relationship between various sex ual attitudes, use of sexually explicit materials, prevalence of prior adult sexual contact, and offender status in a group of 80 adolescent male sex offenders and a comparison group of 96 adolescent male nonof fenders. Offenders reported significantly higher rates of sexual touch ing and physical abuse by an adult than nonoffenders. Being a sex offe nder was negatively associated with the belief that homosexuality is w rong and beliefs in the so-called rape myths. Further; being a sex off ender was significantly associated with the use of sexually explicit m aterials. These data may prove useful to clinicians and researchers in terested in understanding the general correlates of sexual offense.