The Social Context of Adolescents Who Have Perpetrated a Sex Offense: A Prospective Investigation from Adolescence to Early Adulthood

• In Event: Sexual Offending, Risk, Sexual Recidivism and the Life Course Outcomes

Abstract

Research documented the consequences deriving from the detection and a contact with the juvenile justice system for a sex offense in adolescence, such as the negative influence on the social context that can reverberate over time, especially through the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Being labeled as a “sex offender” during the adolescence can result in stigmatization and social exclusion, highlighting the importance of investigating to what extent being identified by the juvenile justice system for a sex offense during the adolescence influence the social context through subsequent periods of life; more particularly during the transition toward adulthood (about 16-25 y.o.). Based on prospective data from a sample of adolescents enrolled in the Pathways to Desistance study (n = 1, 170), this study aims to document the impact of an official contact for a sex offense in adolescence on different measures of the social context (e.g., social support, quality of friendship) from adolescence to early adulthood. Findings are discussed in light of the current policies and public perception toward adolescents who have perpetrated a sex offense, and the weight associated with the label of “sex offender “during adolescence in terms of consequences on the social context of these youths.

Authors

• Stephanie Chouinard Thivierge, Université Laval

• Patrick Lussier, Université Laval