Sex Education for Male Adolescent Sex Offenders in a Group Setting Led by General Psychiatry Residents: A Literature Review and Example in Practice

Male adolescents have been credited with a significant percentage of sex crimes in recent years. They are a heterogeneous population with offenses spanning the same range found among adult offenders. A lack of interpersonal social skills relevant to intimate relationships and inaccurate knowledge regarding appropriate sexual behaviors contribute to the sexual offending by some adolescent males. To address these shortcomings, sex education has been proposed as an element of adolescent male sex offender treatment. Although treatment modalities vary, the group format is commonly used with adolescent sex offenders and is conducive to sex education. This article provides a description, including content and methods, of a sex education group conducted in a state psychiatric facility for adolescent male offenders. In addition, it addresses the use of general psychiatry residents to design, develop, and conduct the group as an educational experience in addition to providing a clinical service in a setting with limited financial and staff resources.