Juveniles Who Sexually Abuse: The Relationship Between Fathers and Theirs Sons: A Psychoanalytical View.

This chapter reports the findings of a study of father-son relationships among 18 adolescent sex offenders. The objective of the research was to examine the role of paternal deprivation in psycho-sexual development and sexually abusive behavior. None of the boys in the study reported having a warm and nurturing relationship with their birth fathers. Slightly more than half of the boys indicated that their father had abandoned their family when they were young. Eighteen percent of the boys had been sexually abused by their father and 50 percent were physically abused. Psychoanalytic theory explains that major disruptions in sexual development during childhood, including the lack of a nurturing relationship with the father, can lead to deviant behavior. The symptoms of deviation appear in early adolescence with the awareness of sexuality. Freud's psychoanalytic theory regarding sexual development is discussed in detail in the chapter. 21 references.