Jamie R. Yoder

Challenges facing families of sexually abusive youth: what prevents service engagement?

Abstract Although it is becoming increasingly important to integrate families of sexually abusive youth in treatment, there are many families who resist engagement. Little is known about why families are not more involved and what factors prevent service engagement. In collaboration with a state sex offender management board, this qualitative study analyzed the perspectives of approved treatment providers (N = 19) on factors that deter family engagement. Findings revealed engagement is determined by detailed contexts and circumstances such as stress, preparedness, and subjective barriers. Pragmatic recommendations are offered to procure and sustain family engagement in treatment.

The Impact of Family Service Involvement on Treatment Completion and General Recidivism Among Male Youthful Sexual Offenders

Few studies have systematically evaluated outcomes of services for youth with sexually problematic behaviors. Evaluations are particularly sparse for youth receiving family-oriented treatment despite an increased emphasis on family in healing and rehabilitation contexts. There are common approaches to family inclusion that have been argued by field professionals as “best practice,” and this study quantitatively investigates the usefulness of such approaches. With support from the state Sex Offender Management Board, data were collected from probation files of male youth adjudicated of a sexual crime (N = 81). Logistical regression models revealed that youth with greater family service involvement were almost three times more likely to successfully complete treatment and youth living in an in-home placement were 73% less likely to reactivate. Inherent implications suggest that family is a protective factor and community-based, family-oriented services ought to occur uniformly. Policy implications and suggestions for future research are provided.

A qualitative investigation of treatment components for families of youth who have sexually offended

ABSTRACT Traditional treatment approaches for youth who commit sexual crimes are generally understudied and lack consideration for youths’ evolving context and development. A holistic model is important in service delivery, whereby multiple socio-ecological risk and protective factors are targeted in treatment. Family treatment, a key component of holistic practices, has not been well-defined for families of youth who have committed sexual crimes. Better understanding of the practical techniques used in service agencies can inform family services for youth. Using an inductive grounded theory approach, this qualitative study interviews service providers (N = 19) to understand components of family treatment. Findings suggest components including problem solving, communication skills, and working through the pain meet certain goals of restructuring and uniting families. The therapeutic relationship was a component that meets all goals of family treatment and helps families and youth overcome stigma of sexual offending. Findings have implications for developing and testing models of family treatment for sexually abusive youth.

Service Approaches for Youths Who Commit Sexual Crimes: A Call for Family-Oriented Models

Sexual crimes committed by youths are a major social concern. Currently, adult-based models of service delivery are applied to juveniles with very little evidence to support treatment effectiveness. With prevailing limitations to these approaches, consideration of methods for improving services to youths is warranted. Adapting traditional treatment approaches to incorporate family-oriented models of service delivery is likely to improve youth and family outcomes. The goal of this article is twofold: (1) to review the state of the evidence of current treatments for sexually abusive youths, identifying gaps in services and research, and (2) to suggest service improvements by incorporating family treatment approaches and reviewing the extant evidence for existing family-oriented models.

Development and Validation of a Positive Youth Development Measure The Bridge-Positive Youth Development

Objective: Positive Youth Development (PYD) is a resilience-based framework that accentuates positive traits in youth. PYD constructs are characteristics that are hypothesized to promote healthy development. However, measures to assess PYD constructs are lacking. Methods: An instrument was created to assess PYD. One hundred and forty youth between the age of 7 and 18 (M = 11.6) completed the measure over five time points. Data were then analyzed using psychometric analysis techniques. Results: Findings suggest that the instrument is a reliable measure of PYD. The scale shows good reliability, with an overall Cronbach’s α of 92. Conclusions: The Bridge-PYD may be a useful tool for program evaluation and the assessment of theoretical constructs in the PYD models.

Associations Between Substance Use in Commission of Sexual Crimes and Offense Characteristics Among Youth: Mitigating Effects of Substance Use Treatment:

The small extant research base on substance use and youth sexual offending has very few descriptive details. Furthermore, research has yet to test associations between the use of substances in the commission of sexual crimes and offense-related characteristics and how substance use treatment can mitigate these effects. In a sample of residentially housed youth adjudicated of a sexual crime (N = 332), prevalence patterns are broken down by type of substance use behavior. Sequential regression models are run to test the associations between substance use prior to a sexual crime and number of victims, sexual deviance, and non-sexual criminality. Substance use treatment is tested as a mitigating factor in these relationships. Results reveal high levels of family substance use, and high rates of alcohol, marijuana, and other substance use. There were associations between substance use prior to sexual criminality and sexual deviance and non-sexual criminality. Substance use treatment reduced the effects of substance use on non-sexual criminality. Research and treatment implications are offered.

Executive Dysfunction Predicts Delinquency But Not Characteristics of Sexual Aggression Among Adolescent Sexual Offenders

Our aim in this study was to evaluate executive function and its relationship to delinquency and sexual crime in adolescents incarcerated for sexual crimes. Based on self-report data, 196 male adolescent sexual offenders from a Midwest state reported high rates of executive dysfunction. Although such deficits did not relate to the number of victims of sexual abuse, severity, or degree of force used in commission of the sexual crimes, poor executive function was significantly predictive of both general delinquency and felony theft. In both measures of delinquent conduct, behavioral regulation dysfunction was predictive of the frequency of commission of the crimes, whereas metacognition was not. Research and treatment implications are offered.

Therapeutic Alliance with Juvenile Sexual Offenders: The Effects of Trauma Symptoms and Attachment Functioning

Therapeutic alliance is an influential predictor of successful treatment with transtheoretical capacity. The effectiveness of alliance has been evidenced with adult sex offenders and delinquent youth, but scholarship in this area is only burgeoning with youthful sexual offenders. Client-level variables unique to clinical context may influence the therapeutic alliance and research ought to delineate those factors among youthful sexual offenders. The present study incorporates variables unique to youthful sexual offenders in corrections facilities. Trauma symptoms and attachment patterns are measured among adjudicated male sex offenders (N = 332). The results reveal a significant relationship between youths’ attachment to peers and communication with fathers that positively predicts alliance and that trauma symptoms related to sexual victimization negatively predict alliance. Implications, future research, and treatment suggestions are provided.

Parental and Peer Attachment Characteristics Differentiating Between Youth Sexual and Non-Sexual Offenders and Associations With Sexual Offense Profiles

Attachment deficits have been suggested as an etiological explanation underlying the development of sexually abusive behaviors and general delinquency among youth. Yet, few researchers have explored the discriminating functions of attachment characteristics or investigated attachments as a stand-alone risk/protective factor explaining offending profiles among youth sexual offenders. This article explored the differences in characteristics of parental and peer attachments between youth sexual (n = 355) and non-sexual offenders (n = 150). Furthermore, associations between family and peer attachments and criminal profiles of sexual offenders were tested. The t-test results revealed that the groups of youth differed on various mother and father attachment characteristics, with youth sexual offenders exhibiting greater deficits. Regression models revealed lower levels of mother and peer trust and communication were associated with more severe sexual offenses; low levels of mother trust were associated with more victims; and low levels of mother trust and high father alienation were associated with more non-sexual criminality. Practice implications suggest the need to amalgamate families more consistently into treatment and addressing peer dynamics within groups and community contexts.

Intra- and extra-familial victimization experiences: differentiating between incarcerated serious youth offenders and youth rapists

Although research is becoming increasingly nuanced by exploring differential risk factors linked with types of youth offenders, typological distinctions have rarely been made between youth rapists and other serious youth offenders. This study tests the relative effects of intra- and extra-familial victimization—while holding other theoretically driven variables constant—on membership in three mutually exclusive youth offending groups: non-serious non-sexual offenders (n = 4,013), serious non-sexual offenders (n = 2,571), and rapists (n = 489). Data were drawn from the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement (SYRP). Incarcerated youth (N = 7,073) were surveyed on multiple constructs. Using appropriate weights in analyses, a multinomial logistic regression (referencing serious offenders) revealed youth who were victims of intra-familial physical abuse (22%) and intra-familial forced sex (42%) had a decreased risk of being in the non-serious offender category relative to the serious offender category. Furthermore, intra-familial emotional abuse (75%) and intra-familial forced sex (202%) demonstrated an increased risk of being in the rapist category relative to serious offender category. Although extra-familial victimization was statistically significant, victimization within the family had larger effects when predicting rape group membership. The research and practice implications are discussed.