Empathy in Sexually Offending and Nonoffending Adolescent Males

Abstract

Empathy development is believed to be an important element in adolescent sex offender treatment. Adolescence is a time of considerable self-absorption among adolescent boys. This study investigates levels of empathy among adolescent offenders in comparison with their nonoffending counterparts. Participants were 23 male sex offenders and 23 male nonoffenders between the ages of 13 and 18. Participants were administered Davis's Interpersonal Reactivity Index as a measure of empathy. The sex offender group scored significantly lower in empathy on the overall score. There was some variation on the individual subscales. Implications for research and practice are discussed.