Dr. Kathy Seifert, author of the PCES course, How Children Become Violent, had an interesting article in her December newsletter on Juvenile Sexual Behavior Problems. She explains:

“Sexual behavior problems and sexual offenses are a growing concern for many. In order to address this problem, we must first understand it. To this end, the characteristics of youth with sexual behavior problems were examined. They were compared to a group of youth without sexual behavior problems.

Nine hundred five youth were in a sample used to study sexual behavior problems. This sample contained 737 (81 percent) youth with no histories of sexual behavior problems and 168 (19 percent) who have sexually assaulted others. It was determined that several characteristics were more common among youth with sexual behavior problems than those that did not have sexual behavior problems. These included a history of other behavior problems such as school behavior problems, a history of assaultive behavior, delinquency, and learning problems.

Here are some characteristics of the families of the group of young people with sexual behavior problems:

69 percent had family violence
74 percent had parental discipline that was too lax, too harsh, or inconsistent
63 percent of families with low warmth and high conflict
67 percent of parents had histories of psychiatric or substance abuse problems
For 71 percent of families, one or both parents were dead or uninvolved in the child”s life

Characteristics of the youth included:

76 percent had psychiatric problems
70 percent experienced childhood trauma
83 percent had behavior problems before the age of 13
89 percent were impulsive
83 percent had anger control problems
87 percent had poor problem solving
75 percent had poor social skills

With this set of characteristics, we can determine appropriate treatment strategies for this population. The reality is that the rate of chronic sexual behavior problems for this group is really quite low–10 to 14%, and treatment is effective in lowering that rate as well. Once a clinician determines the risk level, it is easier to determine the type and intensity of treatment needed. Not all youth need the same level or type of treatment. Some may need sex education and work on boundaries and/or trauma, while others may need a more significant course of treatment specifically related to sexual behavior problems and provided by someone trained in this work. It is important to have someone specifically trained in this work to do the therapy. It is a specialty and is different from traditional therapy in several ways. Prepubescent youth with sexual behavior problems need to be evaluated to see if they have been victimized as well. If they have, treatment sh ould be provided.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kathy
Kathy@DrKathySeifert.com
DrKathySeifert.com

“The measure of our society is how well we take care of our children.”

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