Psychoeducational Group Intervention for Juvenile Sex Offenders: Outcomes and Associated Factors

Childhood maltreatment is a factor frequently associated with adolescents who commit sexual assault. This study sought to determine: 1) whether juvenile sex offenders (JSO) progressed on a set of targets following a psychoeducational group intervention; and 2) whether presence of childhood maltreatment and quality of parent-adolescent relationship predicted this progression. To this end, 128 male JSO completed outcome measures of posttraumatic stress, self-esteem, social skills, and sex knowledge, attitude and behaviour preand post-intervention. Groups were composed of 5 to 10 participants and facilitated by two psychosocial practitioners (generally social workers and psychoeducators). A total of 24 to 30 weekly sessions were held lasting on average two hours each. Results show JSO improved significantly on practically all intervention targets, namely, post-traumatic stress symptoms, social skills, sex attitude, comfort level discussing sex, and self-esteem. Moreover, analyses indicate quality of parent-adolescent relationship at intervention outset does not influence outcomes whereas different forms of childhood maltreatment are associated with more positive outcomes for some targets. The intervention appears appropriate for JSO, especially those who experienced childhood maltreatment.