VT- Research Sheds Light on Juvenile Sexual Offenders

10-25-2009 Vermont:

George Leibowitz, assistant professor of social work, is convinced that producing research that reveals the differences between adolescent and adult sexual offenders will change the way juvenile offenders are treated by society, law enforcement and therapists. With this goal in mind, the expert on trauma and dissociation among sexually abusive youth is taking an in-depth look at specific aspects of juvenile offenders rather than the traditional approach of looking retrospectively at the lives of adult sexual abusers.

In a recent article in the Journal of Forensic Nursing titled, "Comparison of Juvenile Sexual Offenders and Nonsexual Offending Delinquents on Pornography Exposure," Leibowitz showed that previous research indicating that pornography use for adult men at risk for aggression results in sexually aggressive behavior, doesn't apply to adolescent sexual abusers. Pornographic exposure was not correlated to the age at which the abusers started abusing; to their reported number of victims; or to sexual offense severity. "This was not expected and is pretty controversial compared to the existing literature," he says.

The study allowed Leibowitz and his colleagues to collect data on 322 adolescent males incarcerated for sexual offenses and 170 adolescent males incarcerated for non-sexual crimes. Contrary to other researchers' assumptions based on data from non-incarcerated individuals, Leibowiz's findings showed that for incarcerated adolescents, pornographic exposure was not related to any aspect of sexual crime.

"Historically, adolescent treatment approaches have been erroneously derived from the research on adult sexual offenders, which can result in negative, iatrogenic (therapist-caused) effects with youth," says Leibowitz, a licensed independent social worker in Vermont. "It is important to explore the ways clinicians, policy makers, and other key players utilize adult constructs with youth, and what the unintended outcomes are. I think we've helped fill a gap in the research by showing that the way sexual abuse happens with adults isn't how it happens with kids."

Advocating for changes to youth offender laws

Leibowtiz's efforts to ensure that youth sex offenders are viewed in a different context than their adult counterparts extends beyond the research lab. As a social worker at an outpatient clinic in Colorado, Leibowitz worked on a committee with the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board to develop state standards and ensure that developmentally appropriate language was used in manuals and other literature. The committee was successful at getting words used to describe adult offenders such as "incurable" removed from the description of adolescent sexual offenders.

Leibowitz continued lobbying to change public policy by joining forces with Gale Burford, professor in social work, to co-author a legislative report used by the Vermont State Legislature during its information gathering phase for Act 77. The report was instrumental in keeping 11 years-olds off the state sex offender registry, stating that they found "no evidence that public registration and public notification requirements for juveniles, and especially young children, are associated with positive treatment outcomes or with greater safeguarding of other children."

Research for social workers

One of Leibowitz's primary goals is to produce research that helps social workers improve the lives of their patients. He includes sections in his papers for how social workers can apply his findings to their practice. "In some ways we're losing the battle," says Leibowitz in reference to the number of adolescents who are maltreated each year and clinicians' efforts to treat them. "But there are some promising research-based prevention and intervention programs out there that are helping."

Leibowitz offers some suggestions to practitioners in an article that appeared in Journal of Trauma and Dissociation on treating dissociative kids in group settings. According to his research, these patients may react negatively to peers who discuss the details of more serious crimes and victimization in a group setting. In his Forensic Nursing article he addresses implications for nurses who are doing forensic risk assessment, and the importance of understanding the variables related to sexual aggression among juveniles, which should help drive assessment and treatment recommendations.

Leibowitz, who gave a presentation on how to apply research to practice at the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abuse conference in Dallas in September, recently finished research related to trauma and dissociation and plans to focus on the effects of trauma on adolescents who have been sexually abused by their caretakers. He's also working on a book with David Burton, a professor of social work at Smith College and scholar on sexual aggression, with the working title of "Why Did They Do It?" They use their own case studies to explain why these individuals committed sexual crimes and what has been done to help them.

"Research should provide practitioners with important information about risk and protective factors that should inform treatment," says Leibowitz. "Ultimately, you just hope the research helps these adolescents. I enjoy hearing from some of the kids I used to work with, but it's also sad to me because you know you can only do so much. That's where I think the research can really help." ..Source.. by Jon C. Reidel1