Sexually abusive youth: A review of recidivism studies and methodological issues for future research Clare-Ann Fortune, Ian Lambie ⁎ Clinical Psychology Training, Psychology Department, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand Received 21 March 2005; received in revised form 19 September 2005; accepted 28 November 2005 Abstract This paper is a critical review of the recidivism studies on sexually abusive youth. Recidivism studies looking at sexually abusive youth have only appeared in the literature in the last 10 to 15 years and the small number of published studies, along with difficulties in defining recidivism, have affected the quality of outcome data. The most consistent criteria for recidivism applied in the literature uses official records to determine subsequent arrests and/or convictions for sexual and/or non-sexual offences. However, official records are conservative and so will underestimate recidivism rates. Recidivism rates for sexually abusive youth who have received treatment for sexual re-offending are approximately 10%, though rates vary greatly (0% to 42%), while recidivism rates for non-sexual offending are higher (ranging between 8% and 52%). Research indicates that comparison groups of untreated sexually abusive youth have higher rates of sexual and non-sexual re-offending than those who have received treatment. Specific recommendations are made for strengthening research design in future studies. These include using multiple sources to determine recidivism (e.g. official records, self-report, family report and standardised psychological tools), having comparison groups of treatment dropouts and untreated sexually abusive youth and including long-term, longitudinal follow-up of youth. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Recidivism; Adolescent sex offenders; Juvenile sex offenders; Juvenile treatment outcomes; Juvenile delinquency; Sex offender treatment 1. Introduction Adolescents are recognised as being perpetrators of a significant proportion of child sexual abuse (Davis & Leitenberg, 1987; Fehrenbach, Smith, Monastersky, & Deisher, 1986; Flanagan & Hayman-White, 2000; O'Shaughnessy, 2002; Veneziano, Veneziano, & LeGrand, 2000). In a New Zealand community study, Anderson, Martin, Mullen, Romans, and Herbison (1993) interviewed 497 women about sexual abuse. They found that nearly 50% of the perpetrators were under 25 years of age, while 50% of these were younger than 18 years (Anderson et al., 1993). Mullen, Anderson, Roman-Clarkson, and Martin (1991) concluded; “teenage offenders were a large and often quite violent group, who carried out one quarter of the offences” (p.2). Clinical Psychology Review 26 (2006) 1078 – 1095 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +64 9 3737 599x85012; fax: +64 9 3737 450. E-mail address: i.lambie@auckland.ac.nz (I. Lambie). 0272-7358/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2005.12.007