Introduction
A juvenile is a minor or a person who is under the age of eighteen. Juvenile crimes are most prevalent because most young people are uncontrollable, that is, they want to do things their own way. Nowadays juvenile crimes have risen up due to a combination of technology advancement, genetic factors and the environment that children are brought in (Blumstein, 1995).It is no wonder that a lot of children are involved in aggressive sexual behaviors and sex abuse.
These days children of a very tender age of nine to twelve years old have access to internet where they watch pornography sites.As a result they become curious of what they see and thus get the influence to involve into such sexual behaviors. They not only involve themselves in sexual practices but also go to an extent of abusing others sexually. Thus juvenile sex offences occurs when a child is harassed sexually through deception, force or enticement without his or her consent (Shaw, 1999).These offences are accompanied with such acts like touching of another child’s body, kissing, use of bad sexual language ,messages and even sexual intercourse.
Subgroups of juvenile sex offenders
Juvenile sex offenders are classified into two; those that offend against their peers and those that offend against children. These two subgroups differ in a number of ways. For instance, those that offend their peers do so openly while those that offend the children looks for an opportunity to do so. They may take advantage of the people who trusts them like their relatives or close friends to exploit their children. The peer offenders are likely to have other criminal records while the children offenders have a life history of self resentment and low esteem. The two subgroups are characterized by weird behavior patterns like violence, signs of depression and aggressiveness.
Causes of juvenile sex offences
According to Ryan and Lane (1997) sexual abuse in children is caused by factors like; early childhood orientation of sexual behaviors, exposure to media where they can watch sex dominated programs and the environment in which they grow. In addition most of the behaviors that adolescent and teenagers engage in are as a result of emulation of their parent’s, relatives and peers behavior. It is thus important to try and curb these factors from the foundation level back in our families.
The other thing that triggers sexual abuse in children may be because of anger, feeling humiliated and even emotional drain due to family problems, personal problems and act of revenge. For instance most teenagers commit offensive behaviors as a result of little misunderstanding with their parents. They will just involve themselves in unacceptable sexual behaviors in order to prove to their parents that they can make their own decisions and that they are not kids anymore. Parents should therefore instill good discipline to their children as well as putting supervisory measures to ensure that their kids follow and adhere to instructions given. This could help to a great extent in the reduction of conflict between the children and their parents.
Moreover teenagers face persistent life problems that they can no longer hold. This gives them the temptation of abusing drugs in attempt to solve their problems. That is, they want to get emotional relieve but they end up being don’t cares of which everything lacks value in their life. It is at this juncture that such individuals will commit sexual abuse to other children without being accountable of what they do. It is thus important to understand the root causes of these juvenile sexual behaviors in order to put up measures that will curb the problem. Preventive measures should also be put in place in advance so as to avoid just reacting as a result of occurrence of the problem. By so doing much time and energy will be saved in an effort to deal with the consequences of juvenile sex offences.
Characteristics of juvenile sex offenders
Juvenile sex offenders are prevalent in any given society, ethnic group, denomination and social status. It is also evident that these individuals can be as young as the age of nine. One cannot predict that a child will become a sex offender by the look, race or tribe. As a matter of fact sex offences are much predominant in males than it is in females. This is because the female species is said to have more control over their emotions and reactions on various life situations compared to males.
According to Longo (2001), juvenile sex offenders have a past history of being victims of sexual abuse. He said that in most of the cases that he encountered, the clients had either been abused by a family member or had been abandoned in their most time of need which influenced them to become sex offenders. A high percentage of those children and teenagers that involve in sexual abuse have mental disorders. This means that these individuals may commit sex offences without there consent and are ignorant of the implications and consequences that would result from their behavior. It is thus important to separate this group of individuals from the vulnerable children by taking them to mental specialists and psychiatrics to avoid occurrence of sexual abuse.
The other common trait among individuals who commit sex offences is that they lack self control and the ability to make worth judgments in life. They act at the spur of the moment without thinking of the effects and consequences of their actions. They may also possess deviant sexual behaviors and patterns which stimulate their actions and disregard their safety and that of others. These teenagers and adolescents cannot also control their passions, emotions and are unable to post phone calls of their self gratification to the right time.
Prevention and treatment
Juvenile sex offences have become rampant in most of our societies. It is in this effect that prevention and treatment of such offences needs to be called upon. The government, family institutions, religious sectors and schools should coordinate in an effort to eradicate and treat this sexual offences.sex education and stress management should be taught in the learning institutions to create awareness to the children and teenagers about the effects and consequences of irresponsible sexual offences (Rich, 2003).
Prevention strategies should also be applied to deter the occurrence of sexual offences in the community. For instance families should receive counseling on sexuality. Parents should be taught how to relate with their children to avoid conflicts and misunderstanding that stimulate anger among the children. This is because children rebel and become uncontrollable and thereby involve in offensive behaviors.
In addition the government, schools and organizations should hold up youth seminars and workshops where the youth would receive valuable teaching about the social aspects of life. Professional counselors can be invited in such seminars whereby they can guide the youths on how to behave and react when encountered by difficult situations in life. This can thus help to change the children’s and teenagers’ attitude, perception and judgments on complex experiences that they come along.
Moreover education on drug abuse should be emphasized as drugs are one of the causes of sex offences. The youths should be sensitized on the need to avoid taking drugs like bhang, heroine, cocaine and all other hard drugs. This is because the in take of such drugs not only affect their behaviors but it is also a health hazard. These drugs cause incapacitation of individuals and if taken for a long time can even result to death. It is also important to seek treatment for those individuals that have mentor disorders so as to avoid what they might be involved in as result of their state (Alexander, 1999).
Conclusion
Consequently those that are addicted to such sexual offences should be taken to rehabilitation centers where they can learn to change their behavior and to adjust to situations of life. These centers serve as better venues of behavior change as the addicts get to meet other similar people and are assured that they are not all alone in the world of addiction. In some cases sex offenders happens to be our relatives and close friends and most people try to protect the family image by not sending the culprits to jail. This is not always a solution as some of them may repeat their offenses. It is thus advisable to accept their mistakes and let such individuals be accountable for their behavior as this could help rectify them.
Reference List
Alexander, M. (1999). Sexual offender treatment efficacy revisited. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 11(2), pp. 101–116.
Blumstein, A. (1995).Youth violence, guns and the illicit-drug industry. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 86(1), pp. 10-36.
Longo, R. E. (2001, August). For our children. Web.
Rich, P. (2003). Understanding juvenile sexual offenders: Assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Ryan, G. & Lane, B. (1997). Juvenile sexual offending: Cause, consequences, and correction. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Shaw, J. A. (1999). Sexual aggression. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.