A Longitudinal Analysis of the Criminal Career Patterns of Juvenile and Adult Sex Offenders

• In Event: Advances in Sexual Offense Policy Research: Sex Offending over the Life Course

Abstract

The present study examines the criminal careers of a sample of sex offenders released from a sex offender treatment correctional facility between the years of 1951 and 1994 in New Jersey. Offenders with a juvenile sex offense on record (n=64) were matched with a sample of offenders without a juvenile sex offense on record (n=64). Each offender’s criminal history was reviewed for the period prior and subsequent to incarceration, with a follow-up time frame ranging from 21 to 64 years. The study goals are as follows: to compare the sex and general offending trajectories of sex offenders with and without a juvenile sex offense on record, and to determine if juvenile sex offending predicts sex and/or general offending in adulthood. The results and policy implications of the research will be discussed.

Authors

• Laura Salerno, New Jersey Department of Corrections

• Kristen Zgoba, New Jersey Department of Corrections