Research with adolescents who have engaged in harmful sexual behavior: What we've learned and implications for treatment and prevention

Michael H. Miner

Over the last 20 years, researchers at the Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (formerly the Program in Human Sexuality) have been exploring the application of attachment theory to understanding the perpetration of sexual abuse and sexual aggression by adolescent males.  These studies have included comparisons of various categories of adolescents who have perpetrated sexual harm:  those with child victims, those with peer/adult victims, and those with only hands off offences; and have compared these groups with boys who committed non-sexual crimes and boys in treatment for substance use or other mental health disorders.  The findings from our studies will be presented which provide a model for how attachment style, adolescent social involvement, concepts of masculinity and indications of sexual behavioral control influence the development of sexually abusive and/or sexually coercive behavior.  Our work builds on the meta-analysis by Seto and Lalumière (2010) in that we have fleshed out the contribution of attachment theory, further explored issues of social interaction and social involvement, and can discuss how sexuality and early childhood sexual trauma may influence different types of acting out or problematic behavior.  The therapeutic implications of our research will be discussed and a broad-brush concept that sets adolescent sexually harmful behavior within the context of other problematic sexual behavior, other delinquent behavior, and internalizing problems of youth will be presented.  

Michael H. Miner, Ph.D., L.P. is Professor Emeritus of Family Medicine and Community Health and the Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (formally the Program in Human Sexuality) at the University of Minnesota.  He began his work in sex offender research as the experimental psychologist for California’s Sex Offender Treatment and Evaluation Project and since joining the Program in Human Sexuality (PHS); his research has focused on the etiology of sexual abuse perpetration in adolescence, risk assessment, and sexual compulsivity. Dr. Miner coordinated adult sex offender treatment at PHS until 2008 and coordinated forensic assessment services until 2021. He is Past President of the Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) and past Vice President of the International Association for the Treatment of Sexual Offenders.  Dr. Miner was on the editorial boards of Sexual Abuse, Archives of Sexual Behavior, and the International Journal of Sexual Health until his retirement in 2022.  He is a past Associate Editor of Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment.  Dr. Miner has published over 100 articles and book chapters on sex offender treatment, forensic assessment, instrument development, sexual and sexual offending behavior, and evaluation methodology.  He is recipient of the Professional Service Award from the Minnesota Chapter of ATSA and the Lifetime Significant Achievement Award from ATSA.