Identifying factors that may influence professional attributions’ towards adolescents with a history of sexual offending: A systematic review

Abstract

For individuals with a history of sexual offending, adolescence has been highlighted as a critical period for intervention, and professional attributions’ have been shown to impact the efficacy of such interventions. The purpose of this review was to systematically identify and critically review studies, which look at professionals working with adolescents with a history of sexual offending (HSO), to explore possible factors that may influence professional attributions, to provide a starting point for future research. Four papers were selected for the systematic review according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Eight factors emerged that indicated relevance towards professional attributions: professionals’ (1) experience, (2) training, (3) personal history, (4) degree of psychological knowledge, (5) ethnicity and (6) gender; and the adolescent’s (7) age and (8) personal history. Directions for future research are discussed, along with the importance of formulation and training in forensic practice.