NCJ Number
196482
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: 2001 Pages: 81-90
Date Published
2001
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article addresses the psychological distress and sexual abuse victimization of adolescent offenders.
Abstract
Based on interviews with adolescent offenders detained in a short-term holding facility, this article focuses on adolescent sexual abuse victimization and psychological distress. After a brief discussion of studies that have documented the prevalence of sexual abuse victimization in adolescents, the authors describe the 272 adolescent offenders who participated in their study. Ranging in ages from 13 to 17, the 169 male and 103 female respondents were largely African-American, with only 15 percent of respondents representing Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, and unknown ethnicities. Collected from July 1999 to March 2000, data for this study were generated by questionnaires completed in face-to-face interviews. Bivariate, multivariate, and chi-square analyses indicate that adolescent female offenders reported higher levels of sexual abuse victimization and psychological distress than did males. Results also indicate that church attendance moderated the association between sexual abuse victimization and psychological distress for adolescent male respondents but did not produce psychological benefits for female respondents. References