Adolescent Sexual Offenders: A Self-Psychological Perspective

A qualitative study was conducted to explore the application of self-psychological principles in the treatment of adolescent sexual offenders. A theoretical standpoint which straddled the opposing views of the psyche offered by Mahler and Stern was adopted after a review of the developmental literature. With object relations and self-psychological views on development in adolescence, a group of adjudicated and not-adjudicated offenders was intensively interviewed. After qualitative analysis, findings suggested substantial support for the self-psychological view of treatment applied to this group. A number of additional findings suggested directions for further research with this group.