Familial alcohol abuse in the context of sexual and assault offences committed by males between the age of 14 and 20 years

This study investigated whether and to what extent defined samples of young male offenders (sexual and assault offences) differ with regard to the effects of alcohol abuse in their families. Thirty-eight young men had sexually assaulted women of their own age or older, 36 subjects had sexually abused children and 33 had committed assault offences. The incidence of alcohol abuse of mothers was the same in all groups. The alcohol abuse of fathers was most common in the group of assault offences and least common in the group of sexual offences against women of the same age or older. In contrast, alcohol abuse of the delinquent young men after the age of 14 years and the influence of alcohol at the time of offence were virtually identical in the group of sexual offences against women and assault offences, whereas alcohol abuse and the influence of alcohol at the time of offence were only rarely observed among the sexual offences against children. Analysis of alcohol abuse and violence in the intrafamilial context revealed a different and possibly specific profile for each group: Paternal alcohol abuse was associated with alcohol abuse of the son (sexual offences, women victims), with expulsion from school (sexual offences, child victims), and with the influence of alcohol at the time of offence (assault-offences). Such profiles may be helpful in the assessment of the offence and in interventions aimed at preventing relapse: with regard to the degree of alcohol abuse, with regard to the respective delinquent development and with regard to the interaction of the two disorders.