Adolescent sexual offending from

the perspective of Erikson’s

developmental theory
A psycho-criminological view

Steven Collings
Understanding adolescent sexual offending
Building a Psycho-Criminological Bridge
 The psychology of the matter
According to Erikson:

• We have a number of tasks that we need to engage

with at each stage of our lives

• Each of these tasks involves attempting to create a

balance between two contrasting outcomes

• How we negotiate these tasks determines the kind of

person we are and how we behave and relate to
others
CAN I
TRUST
THE
WORLD
CAN I DO I HAVE
TRUST POOR
THE SELF-
WORLD CONTROL
CAN I DO I HAVE DO I HAVE
TRUST POOR EMPATHY
THE SELF- FOR
WORLD CONTROL OTHERS
CAN I DO I HAVE DO I HAVE CAN I
TRUST POOR EMPATHY RESIST
THE SELF- FOR PEER
WORLD CONTROL OTHERS PRESSURE
 ADULTHOOD

CAN I DO I HAVE DO I HAVE CAN I • PEER INFLUENCE

TRUST POOR EMPATHY RESIST • MASCULINIITIES
THE SELF- FOR PEER • PUBERTY (SELF-CRISIS)
WORLD CONTROL OTHERS PRESSURE • ABUSE HISTORY
The criminology of the matter
 Mistrust
Peer pressure of Lack of
Masculinities people guilt
Puberty
Abuse history

Anti-social/
abusive
behaviour

Bows to
peer Lack of
pressure empathy
 A final moral question
“Smith et al., (2005) asserts that it is critical that
youth who have sexually offended are not labelled
as sex offenders. This is due to the fact that the
combination of changes which occur during
adolescence influence identity development and
specifically sexual identity, resulting in a new
definition of self and an alteration in personality”
(Harris, 2009, p, 70)

Fair comment or
sexual abuse myth????