Developmental and Sexual Offense Onset Characteristics of Australian Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Male Youth Who Sexually Offend

Dimity Adams; Nadine McKillop; Stephen Smallbone; Andrew McGrath

doi:10.1177/1079063219871575

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Developmental and Sexual Offense Onset Characteristics of Australian Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Male Youth Who Sexually Offend

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Developmental and Sexual Offense Onset Characteristics of Australian Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Male Youth Who Sexually Offend

Dimity Adams, Nadine McKillop, Stephen Smallbone and Andrew McGrath

Sexual Abuse, Vol.32(8), pp.958-985

2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063219871575

Appears in UniSC Diversity and Inclusion Research Collection

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Abstract

Indigenous youth

youth sex offending

sexual offense onset

systemic factors

UniSC Diversity Area - Life Stages

The present study sought to address gaps in knowledge concerning Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth who commit sexual offenses. Developmental histories and onset sexual offense characteristics of Indigenous (n = 81) and non-Indigenous (n = 130) adjudicated male youth were compared. Results indicate that, in addition to problems affecting both groups, Indigenous youth in this sample were disproportionately exposed to systemic vulnerabilities (e.g., familial antisocial attitudes and incarceration, engagement with antisocial peers, poor school engagement and voluntary school dropout, low socioeconomic status) associated with onset of sexual offending. Differences in the circumstances and context surrounding the onset sexual offense (e.g., use of drugs/alcohol, relationship to person harmed, co-offending, age of person harmed, location, threats/force) were also found. When these analyses were stratified by age of person harmed, these differences were retained only for offenses against children below 16 years. Together, these findings highlight the need for more contextualized primary-, secondary-, and tertiary-level prevention efforts to reduce youth sexual offending in Australia and elsewhere.

Details

Title: Developmental and Sexual Offense Onset Characteristics of Australian Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Male Youth Who Sexually Offend
Authors: Dimity Adams (Author) - Griffith University
Nadine McKillop (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Stephen Smallbone (Author) - Griffith University
Andrew McGrath (Author) - Charles Sturt University
Publication details: Sexual Abuse, Vol.32(8), pp.958-985
Publisher: Sage Publications Inc.
Date published: 2020
DOI: 10.1177/1079063219871575
ISSN: 1079-0632
Copyright note: Copyright (c) 2020. The author's accepted version is made available here under CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). The definitive version, Adams D, McKillop N, Smallbone S, McGrath A. Developmental and Sexual Offense Onset Characteristics of Australian Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Male Youth Who Sexually Offend. Sexual Abuse. 2020;32(8):958-985. doi:10.1177/1079063219871575 is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1079063219871575
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit; School of Law and Criminology - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451368602621
Output Type: Journal article