Risk Factors and Developmental Trajectories
摘要
The current chapter describes micro- and macro-level and cumulative risk factors that predispose late-adolescent Indian males to sexually harmful behavior. Individual-level variables such as peer influence, temperament, impulse control deficits, substance use are explored along with family dysfunction, poverty, and community disorganization. A cumulative risk framework is used to demonstrate that exposure to more than one risk factor simultaneously has synergistic negative outcomes that are greater than the sum of the individual single factors. The developmental pathways analysis identifies early-onset versus late-onset pathways, early childhood sexual behavior problems as precursors to adolescent sexual offending. The chapter advocates for the fortification of Indian child welfare systems through systematic identifying of children with sexual behavior problems and implementation of age-appropriate and non-punitive interventions. The inclusion of protective factors in family-centered, culturally appropriate contexts is held to be a crucial strategy in interrupting the continuum toward sexual deviance.