Abstracts
Résumé
La récidive criminelle chez les adolescents auteurs de crimes à caractère sexuel (AACS) représente un sujet controversé. De récentes recherches suggèrent que leurs taux de récidive sexuelle sont en baisse, ce qui contraste avec la perception du risque de récidive sexuelle entretenue par les décideurs politiques, certains praticiens et le public depuis les années 1990. Ce constat remet en question cette croyance que les AACS se caractérisent par une trajectoire de délinquance sexuelle répétée et persistante à l'âge adulte. La présente étude consiste en une méta-analyse quantitative visant à déterminer les taux de récidive générale et sexuelle des AACS à l'aide de données provenant de 158 études publiées sur la scène internationale entre 1940 et 2019. Les résultats indiquent que si le risque de récidive générale est à la baisse depuis quelques années, le taux de récidive sexuelle et bas et stable depuis le début de la recherche sur la question. Ces constats suggèrent que les stratégies importées du système pour adultes dans une optique de sécurité du public et de prévention de la récidive sexuelle ne sont pas adéquates, remettant en question les modèles d'intervention axés sur la prévention de la récidive sexuelle chez les AACS.
Mots-clés :
- adolescence,
- recherche longitudinale,
- méta-analyse,
- délinquance sexuelle,
- récidive
Abstract
Criminal recidivism among adolescents who have a history of sexual offending (ASO) represents a contentious subject. Recent studies suggest that their rates of sexual recidivism are in decline, which contrasts with the perception of the public, policymakers, and professionals in terms of the risk this population present. This raises questions regarding the response from the juvenile justice system, which tends to rely on the assumption that all ASO are at risk to become adult sexual offenders. The current study consists of a meta-analysis aiming at determining rates of general and sexual recidivism of ASO while using data from international studies between 1940 and 2019 (k = 158). Results show that the risk of general recidivism has been declining in recent years, whereas the risk of sexual recidivism has remained low since the onset of this line of research. These observations suggest that using community protection strategies developed for adults to intervene with ASO is not appropriate. Not only sexual recidivism among ASO represents a rare phenomenon, these strategies are also not adapted to meet the general criminogenic needs of this population of adolescents.
Keywords:
- adolescence,
- meta-analysis,
- longitudinal research,
- recidivism,
- sexual offending
Appendices
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