The Childhood Risk Factors of Adolescent-Onset and Adult-Onset of Sex Offending: Evidence From a Prospective Longitudinal Study

The age of onset has received much attention from criminologists with the advent of the criminal career and the developmental criminology paradigms. This chapter argues that the increased use of adult-like policies with juvenile sex offenders stems in part from the lack of knowledge of the developmental risk factors associated with juvenile and adult sex offending. It examines the childhood risk factors of juvenile-onset and adult-onset sex offending using a prospective longitudinal study. It attempts to determine the childhood risk factors of juvenile- and adult-onset sex offending, whether such risk factors are similar or different, and to what extent these factors predict the two types of onsets. The chapter reviews the state of knowledge regarding the onset of sex offending, the developmental correlates of the onset of sex offending, similarities and differences between juvenile and adult sex offenders, and methodological issues of prior studies.