Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law

In recent years, conservative political and criminological studies have intently focused on the handling of sexual offenders and the protection of the public from such offenders. Instances of juvenile sexual offenders have also been raised within the scope of these studies. As opposed to adult sexual offenders, it is often accepted, with regard to the developmental phases of juvenile offenders, that purposeful intervention may still be achieved to prevent a solidification of the deviant criminal behaviour. That said, previous studies concerning relevant relapse rates amongst juvenile sexual offenders have been extremely heterogeneous, with results varying from approximately 4% through to 79%, depending upon the time period of the given study and the offenders examined. Nevertheless, consensus continues to exist within the research community that chronic juvenile sexual offenders remain the exception rather than the rule. However as previously mentioned, due to a lack of consistent long-term studies, reliable statements are somewhat difficult to come by.

Furthermore, with regard to the therapy of juvenile sexual offenders, a specific focus on the actual crime and the reasons for its emergence have all too briefly been touched upon. The numerous parameters that are involved in the development of a young person must also be better accounted for. These concern sexual development, the development of personal identity, and the development of social roles and relationships. However, at present such broad studies have not yet been carried out. Hence, in this study special emphasis will be placed on the role imprisonment plays in relation to the development tasks of the juveniles.

The primary goal of the present study is to analyse how social therapy can best be carried out so as to reduce the possible risk of relapse amongst juvenile sexual offenders and to prevent a setting-in of chronic deviance. Prognostic legal criteria will also to be developed through an examination of registered cases of relapse. As a long-term framework is particularly desirable in studies relating to relapses amongst sexual offenders, the follow up period upon release will consistent of a minimum of three years.

The study is a component of a larger project concerning an evaluation of the use of social therapy with sexual offenders in Saxony (for example, see also the project Sexual Offenders in Social-Therapeutic Institutions of the Free State of Saxony). The study is primarily concerned with offenders housed in the Zeithain Correctional Facility in Saxony who have been brought there as juveniles or adolescents after committing a sexual crime. As ethical and legal grounds prevent the formation of an untreated control group, violent juvenile offenders from the facility will be used for methods of comparison. The number of untreated juvenile sexual offenders is too small for a meaningful control group to be considered.

The study places special emphasis on measurements of change relating to cognitive behavioural variables as well as social factors after the offenders’ release. For this reason, at the beginning and at the end of the treatment, initial values will be collected. This will be done by means of carrying out a standardized set of questions and through the use of standardized psychological inventories especially developed for the purpose of this study. In order to maximise comparability, the approach orients itself around the adult study. On this note, it is also to be mentioned that the majority of offenders housed in Zeithain are older adolescents or young adults, so the transition between the groups is fluid. Follow-up questionnaires after release and the collection of BZR information – parallel to the adult project – are also intended. The conceptualisation of the project took place alongside the development of the adult study, meaning that numerous project steps were identical. In 2004 data-protection agreements were drawn up and two external positions to monitor continuous data acquisitions were created. Furthermore, standardized test procedures were specified for the measurement of the necessary criteria. These cover the personality factors of the offenders as well as the characteristics of their psychological capability such as empathy bonding. A standardized interview manual was also developed. Similarly, an adoption of the Grasmick et al. “low self control scale” as expounded in the theories of Gottfredson and Hirschi has also occurred. After carrying out extensive preparatory work, the interviews and the collection of test data began in 2005. As the social therapy programme of Zeithain presently only has 37 places in total, of which a third are intended for sexual offenders (as at 2005), the extent of the investigative sample is manageable. So far, we investigated 108 youth offenders, 62 of which could be examined shortly before their release. We also interviewed 22 subjects one year after their release.

The project is funded by the Saxony Department of Justice.