Adolescent Sex Offenders: Investigating Adult Commitment-Rates Four Years Later

Abstract

the purpose of this study was to investigate the long term community re-adjustment of adolescent sex offenders released from a state residential group treatment program between 1988-1990. The results suggest: (1) the post-release behavior of adolescent sex offenders may not present the degree of personal risk assumed by the public; (2) the majority of adolescent sex offenders who eventually enter the adult correctional system will be committed on property related charges; and (3) serving adolescent sex offenders within an agency's main campus peer group treatment program may produce long term recidivism rates comparable with those reported among specialized treatment models. The findings are discussed in relation to the current demand for specialized sex offender programs and the need for correctional practitioners to develop strategies for this population of youth offenders.