This master's thesis examines juvenile sexual offenders. The first part outlines the factors associated with juvenile delinquency in general, as these provide the foundation for understanding juvenile sexual offending. The remainder of the thesis focuses exclusively on juvenile sexual offenders and highlights the heterogeneity of this population. It presents the typologies most frequently discussed in the literature, illustrating the diversity of their characteristics and offending patterns. Findings regarding this heterogeneity serve as an introduction to the discussion of generalist and specialist theories, which address the question of whether sexual offending is primarily the result of specific sexual problems or merely one manifestation of broader delinquent and antisocial behaviour. The following chapter examines juvenile sexual offenders from the perspective of developmental and life-course criminology. In contrast to traditional typologies, this perspective emphasizes the role of life events and developmental changes in shaping offending behaviour, thereby providing a more dynamic understanding of juvenile sexual offending and the developmental pathways that lead to it. The thesis then explores the role of social relationships and life transitions in the lives of juvenile sexual offenders, focusing on their influence on the onset, persistence, and cessation of offending behaviour. The final chapter addresses the termination of sexual offending and examines issues of recidivism, desistance processes, and the long-term life outcomes of juvenile sexual offenders.
|
