Dangerosité psychiatrique et responsabilité pénale atténuée : à propos de la condamnation à la réclusion à perpétuité d’un schizophrène auteur d’un homicide sexuel sadique

The second paragraph of article 122-1 of the French Criminal Code provides for a reduced penalty in criminal matters (Court of Assizes) when the offender is suffering at the time the act is committed from a mental disorder that reduces his liability. This legal provision is not always respected, as shown by the sentencing to life imprisonment of a chronic psychotic patient who committed a sexual homicide (sadistic rape). The Court of Assizes found that the great dangerousness of this schizophrenic, with a multiple criminal record and who had refused his treatment, justified his conviction, while the psychiatric expertise concluded that he should benefit from a reduction on his criminal liability. The sentence was passed without the level of severity of his mental state having been verified by a new expert. The author therefore questions the “ethical” nature of this court decision which, albeit legal, is contrary to the spirit of the law. There was no appeal against the sentence.     

Les Centres Ressources pour les Intervenants auprès des Auteurs de Violences Sexuelles (CRIAVS)

Resources Centres for People working with Sex Offenders (RCPSO) are public services devoted to tackling sexual violence. Created following the April 2006 circular related to the evaluation and treatment of sex offenders, centres are regional multidisciplinary teams (e.g. psychiatrist, psychologist, sexologist, nurse, lawyer, sociologists, librarians, etc.) aim at: - developing primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of sexual violence; supporting professionals working with sex offenders (e.g. case studies, assessment, referral); - improving multi-agency network and partnerships to facilitate the articulation between health and justice systems in the context of penally ordered care; - multidisciplinary training (initial training and continuing professional development) of professionals and informing the public; - ensuring access to knowledge by free access to an online multilingual database of reference documents related to sexual violence (http://theseas.reseaudoc.org/opac/); - initiating, supporting and disseminating research and innovation in the field of sexual violence prevention. In 2009, a national federation was created, the French Federation of Resources Centres for People working with Sex Offenders (FFRCPSO), allowing for national efforts, visibility and projects. The FFRCPSO has developed national and international multi-agency partnerships and support innovative projects. For instance, the ELIS study was the first national study to investigate a penally ordered care measure (“care injunction”), its use, conduct, implementation and output, providing national data and highlighting both strengths and weaknesses. In June 2018, the national consortium on the prevention, evaluation and treatment of sex offenders gathered 15 national key stakeholders and organisations leading to the identification of key actions and 35 recommendations. These recommendations outline a multi-levelled national strategy to tackle sexual violence emphasising communication, prevention in key populations, training for all professionals, evaluation and treatment at key stages and needs for further research. Among these recommendations and based on international successes, was the creation of a national evaluation and referral helpline for minor-attracted persons. In November 2019, the pilot phase and evaluation of the national evaluation and referral helpline was launched.     

Comment comprendre et accompagner l’enfant pervers ?

Whatever his age, the perverted individual worries as much as he fascinates. The healthy or pathological meaning of child sexual behaviour is not always evident. As adults and clinicians, we have difficulty recognizing the existence of a sexual problem in children. However, it can develop a disturbing sexuality in the form of sexual perversion. After a reminder of general considerations on the topic, the article proposes to consider the establishment of a sexual perversion in the child. As in most syndromes and clinical entities, there is a combination of intrinsic and other factors, external, contextual and even societal. Afterwards, we approach the management by proposing a flexible systematization in the evaluative process allowing both to respect the temporality of a necessary elaboration and to take the time to reflect in terms of differential diagnosis in order to propose relevant therapeutic axes.     

Sex and substance use behaviors among children of teen mothers: A systematic review

IntroductionAdolescent birth is a known correlate of many challenging behavioral health consequences for offspring. This systematic review seeks to understanding the sex and substance use behaviors of children born to teen mothers extending the body of literature on the long-term outcomes of being born to a teen mother.MethodsA systematic approach, in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, was used to review and identify eligible studies in the following electronic databases: Web of Science, ProQuest, PubMed, and Ovid MEDLINE. Study inclusion: (a) maternal age (>20) was the key predictor or group variable and (b) children's risky sexual or substance use behaviors were outcome variables. All articles meeting inclusion criteria were next screened using the quality assessment tool created by the Effective Public Health Practice Project.ResultsSeventeen articles reporting on risky sexual behaviors and 12 articles on substance use behaviors met inclusion criteria. We found a consistent association between being born to a teen mother and risky sexual behaviors, including early sexual debut and transitioning into motherhood during adolescence/young adulthood. The link between being born to a teen mother and substance use behaviors was inconsistent and only found in large population-based studies.ConclusionTeen mothers and their children have unique individual, family, and structural needs. Evidence highlights that while there is no clear need to adapt substance use prevention interventions for these children, investing in targeted adaptations of abstinence and safer sex interventions to meet the unique experiences of children of teen mothers and their children is warranted.     

Young adolescents’ responsiveness to sexual communication with their mother: Distinguishing diverse intentions

IntroductionIt is unlikely that parents can have effective sexuality discussions with their adolescent if the adolescent is not responsive to their efforts. We evaluated young adolescents’ intentions of being responsive to sexual communication with their mother and whether youths who were likely, ambivalent, or unlikely to be responsive differed on their characteristics, features of previous sexual communication, and features of the mother-adolescent relationship.MethodsParticipants were 259 Canadian adolescents (12–14 years; 53% girls) who received and returned a survey by mail. They completed measures of responsiveness intentions, expected outcomes of sexual communication, extent of past sexual communication, the frequency with which mothers encouraged questions and provided information about sexuality topics, open communication, and mothers’ provision of warmth, structure, and autonomy support.ResultsWe found that 37% of adolescents were likely to be responsive to sexual communication with their mother, 34% were ambivalent, and 29% were unlikely to be responsive. Youths’ responsiveness intentions were general rather than topic-specific. A discriminant analysis showed that only features of previous sexual communication separated all three groups whereas specific mother-adolescent relationship features (open communication and structure) and one adolescent characteristic (expected outcomes) separated the unlikely group from the other groups.ConclusionsYoung adolescents' intentions of being responsive to sexual communication from their mother are diverse yet general in nature. Mothers' engagement in sexual communication appears essential for youths' openness to these discussions. Enhancing specific mother-adolescent relationship features and youths’ outcome expectations may shift adolescents who are resistant to sexuality discussions to being more sure.     

Peer-relationship patterns and their association with types of child abuse and adolescent risk behaviors among youth at-risk of maltreatment

IntroductionThis study investigates underlying patterns of peer relationships using diverse concepts (i.e., peer dynamics, peer popularity, and deviant peer affiliation). It also examines whether the patterns of peer relationships differ by type of child abuse, as well as the association between peer relationships and adolescent risk behaviors.MethodsThis study included a sample of 659 youth (328 boys, 331 girls) at-risk of maltreatment, primarily low-income and living in the U.S. Peer dynamics were assessed using five separate components (self-report). Peer popularity was measured using teacher's estimation of child's peer status. Deviant peer affiliation was assessed using a modified version of the Youth Risk Behavior and Monitoring the Future Survey. Each type of abuse was assessed at age 12 using a self-report method. Self-reported adolescent sexual risk behaviors and substance use were assessed at age 16.ResultsLatent class analysis identified 4 distinct patterns: 1) Friendly, with prosocial peer groups (10.2%); 2) Socially ignored, with prosocial peer groups (55.2%); 3) Severely antisocial peer groups (6.8%); and 4) Moderately antisocial peer groups (27.8%). Among all types of child abuse, emotionally abused youth were more likely to be involved in severely antisocial peer groups. Additionally, youth in the severely antisocial peer groups were more likely to exhibit adolescent risk behaviors.ConclusionsThese findings argue clearly for the need to gain a deeper understanding of the role played by peer relationships, and of the effect of emotional abuse on the likelihood of membership in severely antisocial peer groups.     

Exploring childhood temperament as a moderator of the association between adolescent sexual minority status and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems

IntroductionSexual minority youth experience worse mental health compared to their heterosexual peers, reflecting the consequences of sexual minority-based stigma. Previous research has focused on contextual variation to understand variability within this vulnerability. Childhood temperament factors such as negative affect, effortful control and surgency/extraversion are important for understanding differential susceptibility to environmental stressors. The objective of the current study was to understand how childhood temperament factors, measured prior to the most difficult developmental period for sexual minority youth, moderated the association between sexual minority status and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems.MethodsYouth reporting same-sex attraction in an ongoing longitudinal project on the development of conduct problems in Quebec, Canada were matched with heterosexual peers, for an analytic sample of 280 youth (62% girls). Structural equation models were used to examine (1) the association between youth-reported same-sex attraction (ages 13–16) and parent and youth-reported internalizing and externalizing problems a year later at ages 14–17, and (2) the moderating role of temperament (ages 6–9) in this association between sexual minority status and internalizing and externalizing problems.ResultsSame-sex attraction was associated with higher levels of youth-reported internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Surgency/extraversion moderated the association between sexual minority status and youth-reported internalizing and externalizing problems.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that temperament linked to individual visibility may be important for understanding variation in self-reported mental health among sexual minority youth, and supports the use of developmental constructs like temperament to better understand vulnerability to psychosocial difficulties within this population.     

Sexual debut and college entrance among South Korean adolescents

IntroductionFor the past few decades, numerous theoretical perspectives have predicted a negative association between adolescent sexual debut and the probability of college entrance. The present article extends the literature by using nationally representative longitudinal data from South Korea to assess these perspectives.MethodsDrawing on longitudinal data from South Korea, this article examined the impact of becoming sexually active between 8th and 12th grades on the probability of college entrance. We controlled for a wide array of confounding variables by using logit models that account for longitudinal attrition and school-based sampling design.ResultsAnalytical results showed that the initiation of sexual intercourse during adolescence predicted a statistically significant decrease in the probability of college entrance for both boys and girls. Gender-specific analyses suggested that, on average, sexual debut in adolescence was associated with a decrease of 10.3 percentage points in the probability of college entrance for boys and a decrease of 14.7 percentage points for girls.ConclusionsThese findings strongly support the theoretical perspectives of age norm theory and sexual double standards in South Korea, where strictly conservative attitudes toward sexuality and sexual behaviors are dominant.