Research has provided an assumption that males offend at significantly higher rates than females. Theoretical and empirical research has attempted to explain the factors that might account for both similarities and differences in the offending patterns of males and females. This study assessed the relation between empathic behavior and offending among adolescent males and females by examining differences in emotional and behavioral expressions of empathy between a sample of serious adolescent offenders and a control sample of high school students. The data were derived from self-report questionnaires administered to adolescents attending public high schools in Philadelphia, PA and to adolescents incarcerated in the California Youth Authority (CYA). The high school sample consisted of 425 students ranging from 15 to 18 years old, and the juvenile offender sample consisted of 232 offenders ranging from 15 to 18 years old. The comparison of these two samples allows for the exploration of the relation between empathy and offending since individuals incarcerated in the CYA represent serious juvenile offenders, whereas high school students are unlikely to have a serious offense history. The results of the study indicate that empathy is significantly related to serious offending among adolescents and that there are sex differences in the way in which empathy shapes offending outcomes. The study revealed significant sex differences in behavioral empathy for all adolescents in the sample, independent of offense status. The study has important implications regarding the influence of empathy on offending behavior and sex differences in offending. Overall, the findings suggest that the relation between empathy and offending warrants further attention. Significant differences in emotional and behavioral empathy across offending and nonoffending samples were observed, suggesting that empathy may be more central to explanations of offending than current theories indicate. Appendix and references