The Perversion of Youth

If you know nothing about adolescents who commit sexual offenses, but were interested in learning more, this would be a good place to start. Adolescent sexual offending is the topic of my dissertation, so I found myself noting where this book (from 2006) is now a touch out-of-date with regard to research, but DiCataldo certainly created an admirable and still-current overview of the many ethical issues surrounding how we think about and intervene with adolescents who have offended. I think a particular strength is his ability to draw connections between mental health treatment issues and the legal history of how such adolescents are adjudicated, which are two areas not often integrated (I think largely related to the biases of researchers–psychologists tend to have a psychological angle, and legal scholars tend to have a legal one). Serious miscarriages of justice have occurred with disturbing frequency in this population, and I think general public conception of JSOs tends more toward fiction than fact, so anyone interested in child welfare might appreciate this thoughtful and thorough review of the topic.