Have we gone too far in our response to adolescent sexual abusers and children with sexual behavior problems?

We have encountered young teenagers (13 to 15) who, as part of their treatment, have been compelled to recite daily lay-outs or creeds including phrases such as "I am a pedophile and am not fit to live in human society ... I can never be trusted ... everything I say is a lie ... I can never be cured." We have encountered residential programs where teenage boys were sanctioned if they looked at girls, were required to look at the floor when they passed females in the hall, and where the message was conveyed that all forms of teenage sexuality were offending. We have listened to teenage boys hesitantly confess that they admitted to offense histories and deviant fantasies they did not have, simply because it was expected and required before they would be eligible for release from residential programs. Our impression is that these incidents cannot be dismissed as isolated examples of overly zealous practice but are directly derived from an uncritical application of prevailing treatment models.

source: Article 'Don't shoot, we're children: Have we gone too far in our response to adolescent sexual abusers and children with sexual behavior problems?' by M. Chaffin & B. Bonner; From the book 'Child Maltreatment', 3 (4); Quote used in the book 'Censoring Sex Research - The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations' edited by Thomas K. Hubbard & Beert Verstraete; Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA; 2013; Book Child Maltreatment from: 1998