Using Latent Class Analysis to Explore Subtypes of Youth Who Have Committed Sexual Offenses

Abstract

Attempts to identify typologies of youth who have committed sexual offenses have been challenged by their overlapping characteristics with youth who have committed nonsexual crimes, as well as methodological limitations that make the results difficult to translate into direct practice. In the current study, a technical new way of identifying subtypes of these young people was proposed using latent class analysis, a person-centered approach that allows categorical subtypes to be revealed by the data rather than hypothesized differences based on individual factors. The indicators included in this analysis were sexual behaviors only, thereby eliminating any overlap with general delinquents. In a sample of 573 male youth between the ages of 11 and 20 ( M = 16.75, SD = 1.72), four unique classes were identified. Research implications are offered.