Cover Story: How Can You Distinguish a Budding Pedophile From a Kid With Real Boundary Problems?

This cover story from the New York Times Magazine (7/22/07) discusses the problem of treating juvenile sex offenders as adults. Many juveniles accused of sex offenses are being tried as adults, added to sex offender registries, and mandated to sex offender treatment programs developed for use with the adult population. Researchers, however, are questioning whether juveniles who engage in sexual behavior with younger children are actually future pedophiles, or simply engaging in inappropriate sexual experimentation. Can you tell the difference? "It can be difficult," reads the tagline, "but research is showing that when it comes to sex crimes, youths are not just little adults. So why does the law tend to treat them that way?" I believe this is indicative of a common pattern in U.S. juvenile justice policy over the last several decades: a) A serious issue involving juveniles comes to light (gang involvement, sexual misconduct); b) Media coverage ignites public fear and alarm over the issues; c) Politicians move swiftly, and often hastily, to create laws to respond; d) A juvenile or criminal justice response to the problem is developed with the worst case offender in mind, but is written in such a way that it draws in far too many youth only present a marginal risk to society. Read the full text of the article here.