A social learning theory comparison of the sexual victimization of adolescent sexual offenders and nonsexual offending male delinquents

Abstract

This paper tests hypotheses based on Garland and Dougher's (1990) formulation of the "victim to victimizer" relationship which is a social learning theory etiological approach to adolescent sexual offending. Two hundred sixteen adolescent sexually victimized sexual offenders and 93 adolescent sexually victimized nonsexual offending delinquents from three Michigan sexual offender treatment facilities participated in an anonymous cross-sectional survey regarding their sexual victimization and offending as well as a social desirability measure. When comparing the two groups, nonsexually offending delinquents and sexually offending delinquents, the latter were found to have: closer relationships with their perpetrators; a higher chance of having a male perpetrator(s); a longer duration of sexual victimization; more forceful sexual victimization; and the experience of penetration as part of their sexual victimization. Logistic regression showed that the gender of the perpetrators being both male and female and the forcefulness of the perpetrators were the best predictors of being in the sexual offender group. The social learning theory hypotheses were generally supported. Further multivariate research on this theory is warranted.