Characteristics of Juvenile Delinquency with Special Emphasis on Juveniles as Child Sexual Abusers

The paper is composed of two parts. The first part covers juvenile delinquency with all its characteristics. When analyzing the delinquency, we gave a special place to the socio-pathological phenomena which is more and more present and the rate is higher from year to year. Social pathology is a huge issue that requires special commitment, first, for its detection and then prevention. Within the delinquency, we also cover the most common crimes committed by juveniles. In the second part of this paper, the authors deal in more details with a specific form of crime which can also be committed by juveniles: child sexual abuse and pedophilia. First, the difference between child sexual abuse and pedophilia will be discussed, a difference that is of particular importance in cases where minors are abusers. Furthermore, the main characteristics of cases when both perpetrators and victims of sexual abuse are minors will be addressed. Although these criminal offenses are rarer in practice unlike the criminal offenses and deviant behaviors treated in the first part, however, knowing the main characteristics and specifics of such cases is of particular importance for the legal-criminal treatment of the perpetrators of these criminal offenses.

Typologies and Psychological Profiles of Child Sexual Abusers: An Extensive Review

Child sexual abuse is a public health issue that has been associated with a variety of negative health outcomes. Child sexual abusers constitute a heterogeneous population of individuals. This review lays out an overview of the current understanding of typologies and psychological profiles of child sexual abusers. Typologies of child sexual abusers in general and online child sexual abusers are reviewed to summarise the existing knowledge. Psychological traits including personality traits, cognitive distortion, empathy, and impulsivity are examined to provide a wider perspective of the psycho-criminogenic factors of child sexual abuse. Although past research on child sexual abusers has provided insights into the organisation and classification of different types of child sexual abusers, the classification of these typologies has drawn widespread criticisms. In this review, we discuss the challenges and limitations pertaining to the existing typologies and studies related to the psychological profile of child sexual abusers.

Gendered Perceptions of Child Sexual Abusers: The Paradox of the “Vulnerable Other”

A growing body of evidence indicates that women who contravene traditional gender-role norms by committing sexual crime toward children are treated more leniently than their male counterparts. Such lenience has been explained by some scholars in terms of the “denial” thesis, which suggests that sexual scripts regarding masculine and feminine norms influence how society reacts to particular kinds of behavior. This study investigates the influence of gender-based attitudes and beliefs on practitioner perceptions of male and female child sexual abusers. It also explores whether and how gender-based ideals impact on practitioner punitiveness and discusses implications for policy and practice.