ABSTRACT
In England and Wales in 2007, just fewer than thirty-two per cent of all cautions for sexual offences involved children and young people under the age of eighteen and almost ten per cent of convicted sexual offenders were in this age group. This chapter suggests that adolescent females might disclose their offending behaviour many years later, when they present for therapy as adults for quite other reasons. Ward, Polaschek, and Beech also describe an example of a level II, single-factor theory, according to which offenders perpetrate deviant behaviours because they have deviant sexual preferences. Sexual offending is often hard to prove. Children acting as witnesses, and vulnerable adults, might retract their statements due to fear or pressure from others. The individual sessions are broadly person-centred in approach, giving the young people an opportunity to explore their harmful or inappropriate behaviour and the life experiences and attachment issues that have been the engine of their offending.
