Rousseau's Confessions were considered scandalous at the time. Explain why this might be so.

The idea that Rousseau set out to present a vision of
himself that strove to be "true" was probably the most scandalous aspect of his work. 
He seemed to have little problem depicting himself in an unflattering manner.  He openly
displays behavior in the work which shows him to be capable of lying and stealing,
reflects sexual attitudes that were contrary to the social norm, and shows himself to be
an individual that is does not "conceal of any crimes."  It might be in this realm, in
general, where Rousseau's work could be seen as "scandalous" given the time period. 
Rousseau might have been one of the first thinkers/ writers to understand and actually
enjoy the notion of "shock value" in the composition of his
work:

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Any other autobiographer would have
suppressed such unflattering incidents, and Rousseau chides Michel de Montaigne, famous
for his honest self-portrayal in his Essays, for having included nothing comparable. If
Rousseau’s facts are not always verifiable, his candor is certainly
genuine.

Rousseau
did not shy away from displaying himself in a manner that is almost reprehensible, such
as the framing of a servant girl or his submissiveness to women, bordering on almost
fetish- like.  At a time when literature was driven to display moral purity reflective
of the reasonable nature of human beings, Rousseau's work displays something else.  This
might be reason enough for it to be considered "scandalous."