Unfinished stories: From juvenile sex offenders to juvenile sex offending through a developmental life course perspective

The developmental context in which adolescent sexually abusive or aggressive behaviors arise is not fully considered by current policies. The perception of adolescents as sexual predators on a life-course persistent pattern of sexual offending has largely contributed to the current, more punitive, sociolegal context. We suggest that myths, misconceptions, and unsubstantiated claims about adolescents involved in sexually abusive behavior have persisted due to the abundance of research focusing on the “offender”, neglecting the “offense”, and the two being confused as one: the juvenile sex offender. We describe the current state of knowledge on the characteristics of adolescents involved in sexually abusive or aggressive behavior and present the developmental life course criminology perspective as a framework for organizing research on the course of juvenile sexual offending, including the process leading up to the behavior and what happens in adulthood. Important research questions and the associated research design and measurement tools necessary to address these questions are presented to better understand the dynamic aspect of juvenile sex offending, its onset, course, and termination.