Sexuality and Autistic-Like Symptoms in Juvenile Sex Offenders: A Follow-Up After 8 Years
J Autism Dev Disord
Sexuality and Autistic-Like Symptoms in Juvenile Sex Offenders: A Follow-Up After 8 Years
M. Ewoud Baarsma 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Cyril Boonmann 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Lisette A. 't Hart-Kerkhoffs 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Hanneke de Graaf 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Theo A. H. Doreleijers 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Robert R. J. M. Vermeiren 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Lucres M. C. Jansen 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 Research and Documentation Center, Ministry of Security and Justice , The Hague , The Netherlands
1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam , Amsterdam , The Netherlands
2 & Lucres M. C. Jansen
3 Curium-LUMC, Leiden University Medical Center , Leiden , The Netherlands
4 Institute for Criminal Justice, Faculty of Law, Leiden University , Leiden , The Netherlands
5 Rutgers , Utrecht , The Netherlands
6 Department of Forensic Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Basel Psychiatric Hospital , Basel , Switzerland
Juveniles who have committed a sexual offense (JSOs) are thought to have abnormal sexual development, as well as increased ASD symptoms. In the current study, sexual development and behavior, as well as stability of ASD-like symptoms were assessed in a sample of 44 male JSOs (mean age 24.7 ± 1.5 years) 8 years after their sexual offence. JSOs exhibited less knowledge of sexuality, less positive attitudes towards pornography and more often reported having been a victim of verbal sexual intimidation than a matched normal population sample. ASD symptoms were relatively stable over the 8 years follow-up, indicating that social difficulties in JSOs may be part of life-long autistic-like traits. However, ASD symptoms were not related to alterations in sexual development or behavior.
Sexual offending juveniles; Autism spectrum disorder; Sexual development; Longitudinal research
Introduction
Sexual offending is an umbrella term, covering an array of
criminal behaviors, ranging from hands-on offenses such as
rape and sexual assault, to hands-off offenses such as
public indecency and possession of child pornography. It
is, as such, a societal problem, not only in terms of the
trauma it causes its victims, but also in terms of the costs
society bears, for example for prosecuting and punishing
offenders
(Dunsieth Jr. et al. 2004)
. It is suggested that a
significant subgroup of sexual offenders starts their deviant
sexual behavior in adolescence
(Longo and Groth 1983)
,
and approximately 20 % of all rapes and 20–50 % of child
abuse cases are perpetrated by minors
(Barbaree and
Marshall 2008)
. Fortunately, not all juveniles who have
committed a sexual offense (JSOs) will continue to do so in
adulthood and several studies have found sexual
re-offending by JSOs to be relatively rare
(Caldwell 2010;
Fortune and Lambie 2006)
. A previous study in the same
group of participants by ’t Hart-Kerkhoffs et al. (2015), for
example, found a sexual recidivism rate of 7 %, compared
to a rate of 80 % for non-sexual recidivism. One possible
explanation for this low sexual recidivism rate is that JSOs
as a group may not differ from the general population with
respect to psychosexual development. Previous studies
have assessed some sexual domains in JSOs, such as the
number of partners or deviant sexual urges (e.g., Driemeyer
et al. 2013), but the sexual development of JSOs has not yet
been comprehensively studied.
Besides psychosexual problems, a possible contributing
factor to sexually offensive behavior in these minors is the
presence of social impairments, as is frequently seen in
individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A
previous study by ’t Hart-Kerkhoffs et al. (2009b) screened
JSOs for the symptoms of an ASD using a parent-report
questionnaire and found that JSOs display significantly
more symptoms of ASDs than healthy controls. This is,
however, to the best of our knowledge, the only cohort
study that has assessed ASD symptoms in JSOs. Since it
was cross-sectional in design, it is currently unknown
whether observed ASD symptoms persist into adulthood. If
autistic-like traits in adolescent JSOs are indeed based on
an autism spectrum disorder, we would expect to see these
traits persist into adulthood, since ASDs are currently
understood to be life-long conditions
(Matson and Horovitz
2010)
. Furthermore, previous research has also
demonstrated that some individuals with an ASD may experience
difficulties in their sexual behavior and development
(Dewinter et al. 2013; Stokes et al. 2007)
. In JSOs,
however, the relationship between ASD symptoms and sexual
behavior is not yet clear. Therefore, the current study
investigates the development of sexuality and ASD
symptoms in JSOs from adolescence to early adulthood, as
well as the relationship between these characteristics.
The foundation for a healthy sexuality in adulthood lies
in childhood and adolescence, with the discovery of one’s
own sexuality oftentimes going in phases
(De Graaf et al. (...truncated)