- Section 1: Introduction
- Key Points
- For the purposes of this curriculum, the youth we will be discussing
in this curriculum:
- Are adolescents, generally between the ages of 12 and 17. We
will not address the special population of young children with
sexual behavior problems.
- Are male. Although we know that females engage in sexually abusive
behavior, the majority of juvenile sex offenders appear to be male,
and as such we will generally limit our remarks to issues related
to the adolescent male sex offender.
- Are adjudicated youth. The information we will be presenting
is designed for youth who have been referred to and adjudicated
by the juvenile courts.
- Goals of the Curriculum
- The goals of this training are to help you to understand:
- What is meant by a “comprehensive approach” to managing
juvenile sex offenders in the community;
- What is known about the incidence and prevalence of sexual offending
by juveniles;
- The key differences between adult and juvenile sex offenders
and the implications those differences have on how to most effectively
manage these youth;
- The ways in which specialized—and developmentally appropriate—assessments
can enhance and inform decisionmaking throughout the system;
- Goals of the Curriculum (Continued)
- Promising approaches to treatment for juvenile sex offenders, and
how they differ from treatment for adults;
- The goals and elements of a success–focused strategy for supervising
juvenile sex offenders in the community;
- Specific ways in which professionals can facilitate successful community
reintegration and stability of these youth in the community; and
- The potential implications of various legislative responses originally
designed for adult sex offenders that have in some cases been applied
to youth.
- Overview of the Curriculum
- The curriculum is centered around eight topic areas:
- Introduction
- Overview : Building a Foundation for Effective Management Strategies
- Assessment
- Supervision
- Treatment
- Reentry
- Legal and Legislative Responses
- Summary
- Defining the Comprehensive
Approach to Sex Offender Management
- The Comprehensive Approach is designed to answer three primary questions:
- Starting from the moment that a disclosure of juvenile–perpetrated
sexual abuse is made or a victim is identified, what are the critical
activities and processes—or key components—that are
necessary to facilitate juvenile sex offender management effectively?
- Who are the various stakeholders that must be involved?
- How should professionals approach their work? In other words,
what are the key tenets or principles that underlie what they do?
- Defining the Comprehensive
Approach to Sex Offender Management (Continued)
- Fundamental Principles of
the Comprehensive Approach
- Victim–Centeredness
- Specialized Knowledge
- Public Education
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- Collaboration
- Defining the Comprehensive
Approach to Sex Offender Management
