Abstract
Youth who engage in violent crime, including sexual offences, remain understudied. Research conducted on adults suggests that factors linked to antisocial and violent behaviour may enhance the current understanding of sexual offences. These factors include a consideration of how dark personality traits (such as psychopathy) and childhood maltreatment may inform the likelihood of sexual offending. Utilizing a sample of juvenile alleged violent offenders (n = 113), the present study examines the construct of adolescent psychopathy, with abuse as a potential moderator, in relation to offence perpetration. Contrary to some of the literature on adults, the findings indicate that neither psychopathy nor experience of abuse differentiates sexual from non-sexual violent offenders. They also suggest that scoring higher on psychopathy relates to violence more broadly. The importance of tailored programming for youth who may be at risk of offending or who require treatment in the justice system is explored.
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
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Ethical standards
Declaration of conflicts of interest
Katherine Rose has declared no conflict of interest
Dr. Michael Woodworth has declared no conflict of interest
Jennifer Minton has declared no conflict of interest
Ethical approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.