Family environments of adolescent sex offenders and other juvenile delinquents.

ABSTRACT

This study compared the family environments of adolescent sex offenders and violent and nonviolent juvenile delinquents with a normative sample of adolescents. Differences between the juvenile delinquents and the normative sample were found on six of the ten subscales of the Family Environment Scale (i.e., cohesion, expressiveness, independence, intellectual-cultural orientation, active-recreational orientation, and control). No differences were found on four variables (i.e., conflict, achievement orientation, moral-religious emphasis, and organization). No differences were found among the three categories of juvenile delinquents. Implications of the findings for clinical intervention and further research are offered.