ABSTRACT
The provision of treatment for juvenile sexual offenders has lagged behind the provision and development of treatment for adult offenders. For many years it was assumed that young people who committed sexual offences were simply experimenting and, left alone, their problematic behaviours would disappear (Maclay, 1960; Roberts et al., 1973). It is now clear that many of these juvenile offences do not reflect simple transitory experimentation but rather are signs of a persistent problem behaviour in need of treatment. Estimates indicate that 20 per cent of rapes and 50 per cent of sexual assaults of children are committed by juveniles (Barbaree and Cortoni, 1993). Furthermore, in some studies 50 per cent of adult offenders say their deviant sexual behaviour began during childhood or adolescence (Abel et al., 1985; Longo and Groth, 1983). Obviously providing treatment for juvenile sexual offenders is both necessary and socially valuable but only if such treatment is effective.
