title: Female adolescent sexual and nonsexual violent offenders: a comparison of the prevalence and impact of risk and protective factors for general recidivism.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study adds to the scarce literature on female adolescent sexual offenders by examining differences between female adolescent sexual and nonsexual violent offenders in the prevalence and impact of dynamic risk and protective factors for general recidivism.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample consisted of female adolescents who were convicted for a sexual offense (FSOs; n = 31) or nonsexual violent offense (FNSOs; n = 407), and for whom the Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment was completed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In FSOs, considerably more protective and fewer risk factors were present than in FNSOs in almost all domains (i.e., school, relationships, family, attitude and aggression). In addition, differences in the impact of risk/protective factors on general recidivism were found. In FSOs, risk/protective factors in the family and aggression domains were especially important, whereas in FNSOs, risk/protective factors in the attitude domain were especially important.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study indicate that treatment programs developed for mainstream female offenders may also be useful for female sexual offenders in reducing general recidivism. Furthermore, the results are of importance for determining the main focus of treatment for both mainstream and sexual female adolescent offenders.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94208, 1090 GE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. C.E.vanderPut@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Claudia E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: van der Put
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D057237:Criminals / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D065840:Protective Factors; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*