Public Opinions on Applying Adult Sex Offender Legislation to Minors Convicted of Sex Crimes

A controversial part of the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) mandates that states require minors adjudicated of certain sexual offenses to be on the sex offender registry, but not all states have complied. Our article examines how far the public in one Midwestern state that has not complied with the AWA is willing to go to manage juvenile sex offenders. We use a statewide survey of adults to examine attitudes toward applying adult sex offender penalties to minors adjudicated of a sex crime (residency restrictions, prohibitions from public schools, school zones, public parks, and social networking sites). Results indicate more than half (60%) of participants agreed that juveniles should be on the public sex offender registry. However, there was less consensus on how punitively juveniles should be treated compared with adult sex offenders. Results indicated which demographics in this state were more likely to hold punitive views toward juvenile sex offenders.

Psikodinamika moral disengagement remaja pelaku pencabulan: Sebuah studi kasus instrumental

There are many juvenile sex offender cases in Indonesia. This study aimed to reveal how the psychodynamics of moral disengagement on juvenile sex offenders. Through moral disengagement, juvenile sex offenders commit various rationalizations to negate the feelings of guilt. This research used the qualitative method of an instrumental case study. The participants were seven juvenile sex offenders. The collecting data through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through the stages of categorization and direct interpretation, correspondence and patterns, and naturalistic generalization. The credibility used data triangulation and asked the participants to read the interview transcript. The results showed the psychodynamic of juvenile sex offenders began by forming moral disengagement before the occurrence of sexual abuse or initiation phase. After committing fornication, adolescents could feel guilty or not feel guilty due to moral disengagement. This study showed that participants frequently used the attribution of blame, dehumanization, distortion of consequences. The theoretical implications were that moral disengagement also functions to overcome fear after moral violation and different forms of moral disengagement from theory, namely active avoidance.Keywords: Instrumental case study; Juvenile sex perpetrators; Moral disengagement AbstrakPencabulan oleh remaja masih banyak terjadi di Indonesia. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengungkap bagaimana psikodinamika moral disengagement remaja pelaku pencabulan. Melalui moral disengagement, remaja pelaku pencabulan melakukan berbagai bentuk rasionalisasi untuk meniadakan perasaan bersalah. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kualitatif studi kasus instrumental. Partisipan penelitian adalah tujuh remaja pelaku pencabulan. Pengambilan data menggunakan wawancara semi terstruktur. Analisa data melalui tahapan kategorisasi dan interpretasi langsung, korespondensi dan pola, serta generalisasi naturalistik. Kredibilitas penelitian menggunakan triangulasi data dan meminta informan membaca transkrip wawancara. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan psikodinamika remaja pelaku pencabulan diawali dengan membentuk moral disengagement sebelum terjadinya pencabulan, yaitu pada fase inisiasi. Setelah pencabulan atau fase pasca pencabulan, remaja dapat merasa bersalah namun dapat pula tetap tidak merasa bersalah karena moral disengagement. Bentuk moral disengagement yang banyak digunakan partisipan adalah atribusi menyalahkan, dehumanisasi, distorsi konsekuensi. Implikasi teoritis adalah moral disengagement juga berfungsi mengatasi perasaan takut setelah pelanggaran moral dan bentuk moral disengagement yang berbeda dengan teori yaitu penghindaran aktif.Keywords: Moral disengagement; Remaja pelaku pencabulan; Studi kasus Instrumental

Juvenile Sex Offenders in Turkey: A Study on Offense Characteristics, Risk Factors, and the Differences between Juvenile Sex Offenders and Other Juvenile Offenders

Based on a data set ( n = 920) derived from court files of adjudicated youth in one of the largest court districts in Turkey, this study represents the first systematic attempt to understand juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) and their offenses in this contemporary urban context. The study results show, first off, that sexual offending among Turkish youth has been increasing at a rate comparable to that of other Western societies. Secondly, the victims of the sex offenses examined in the study were mostly of the opposite sex (female), were typically younger than the offenders, and commonly were acquaintances (friends, family, partners). Thirdly, the results indicated that the JSOs were significantly different from other juvenile offenders, and in terms of most of the risk factors used in juvenile justice assessments they had an advantage over the other juvenile offenders. These results are discussed in light of findings reported in previous studies, along with considerations relating to the public policy implications and the research recommendations arising from the outcomes of this foundational research.