Adolescent child molesters: clinical observations

Clinical assessments of 29 male adolescent child molesters referred to the Toronto Family Court Clinic showed that many were socially isolated, had chronic learning problems and had been maladjusted prior to committing their sexual offenses. The roles of drug and alcohol abuse, past sexual victimization, antisocial traits, disinhibition, peer-group influence, psychopathology and sexual deviance, alone or in various combinations, as causal factors for these boys' sexual offenses are discussed in view of previous studies and illustrated by case vignettes.