Factors Associated With Contact Sexual Offending Among a Non-Forensic Sample of Women With Sexual Interest in Children

Abstract

This study aimed at assessing the extent to which factors associated with male child sexual offending may also be applicable to women with a self-identified sexual interest in children. Participants (n = 42) took part in an anonymous online survey covering questions about general characteristics, general sexuality, sexual interest in children, and previously-perpetrated contact child sexual abuse. Group comparisons between women who reported committing contact child sexual abuse compared to those who had not were conducted in terms of sample characteristics. Furthermore, the two groups were compared regarding the factors of high sexual activity, use of child abuse material, indication of ICD-11 pedophilic disorder diagnosis, exclusivity of sexual interest in children, emotional congruence with children, and childhood maltreatment. Our results revealed that high sexual activity, indication of ICD-11 pedophilic disorder diagnosis, exclusivity of sexual interest in children, and emotional congruence with children were associated with previous contact child sexual abuse perpetration. We recommend further research on potential risk factors relating to child sexual abuse on the part of women.

Keywords

child sexual abuse female sexual offenders sexual interest in children risk factors

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ahlers

C. J.

Schaefer

G. A.

Mundt

I. A.

Roll

Englert

Willich

S. N.

Beier

K. M.

(2011). How unusual are the contents of paraphilias? Paraphilia-associated sexual arousal patterns in a community-based sample of men. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 8(5), 1362–1370. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01597.x

Ahlmeyer

Kleinsasser

Stoner

Retzlaff

(2003). Psychopathology of incarcerated sex offenders. Journal of Personality Disorders, 17(4), 306–318. https://doi.org/10.1521/PEDI.17.4.306.23969

Allen

C. M.

(1991) Women and men who sexually abuse children: a comparative analysis. Safer Society Press.

American Psychiatric Association . (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).

Anderson

K. P.

LaPorte

D. J.

Crawford

(2000). Child sexual abuse and bulimic symptomatology: Relevance of specific abuse variables. Child Abuse and Neglect, 24(11), 1495–1502. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(00)00195-2

Bailey

J. M.

Bernhard

P. A.

Hsu

K. J.

(2016). An internet study of men sexually attracted to children: Correlates of sexual offending against children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 125(7), 989–1000. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000213

Beier

K. M.

Amelung

Kuhle

Grundmann

Scherner

Neutze

(2015). Hebephilia as a sexual disorder. Fortschritte der Neurologie Psychiatrie, 83(2), e1–e9. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0034-1398960

Bensley

L. S.

Spieker

S. J.

Van Eenwyk

Schoder

(1999). Self-reported abuse history and adolescent problem behaviors. II. Alcohol and drug use. The Journal of Adolescent Health: Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 24(3), 173–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(98)00112-8

Berner

Briken

Hill

(2009). Female sexual offenders. In Sex offenders: Identification, risk assessment, treatment, and legal issues (pp. 276–285). Oxford University Press.

10.

Bland

J. M.

Altman

D. G.

(1995). Multiple significance tests: The Bonferroni method. BMJ, 310(6973), 170. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.310.6973.170

11.

Bourke

M. L.

Hernandez

A. E.

(2009). The ‘butner study’ redux: A report of the incidence of hands-on child victimization by child pornography offenders. Journal of Family Violence, 24(3), 183–191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-008-9219-y

12.

Bulik

C. M.

Prescott

C. A.

Kendler

K. S.

(2001). Features of childhood sexual abuse and the development of psychiatric and substance use disorders. The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Science, 179(5), 444–449. https://doi.org/10.1192/BJP.179.5.444

13.

Buschman

Wilcox

Krapohl

Oelrich

Hackett

(2010). Cybersex offender risk assessment. An explorative study. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 16(2), 197–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552601003690518

14.

Cantor

J. M.

McPhail

I. V.

(2016). Non-offending pedophiles. Current Sexual Health Reports, 8(3), 121–128. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-016-0076-z

15.

Christopher

Lutz-Zois

C. J.

Reinhardt

A. R.

(2007). Female sexual-offenders: Personality pathology as a mediator of the relationship between childhood sexual abuse history and sexual abuse perpetration against others. Child Abuse and Neglect, 31(8), 871–883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2007.02.006

16.

Cohen

(1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203771587

17.

Comartin

E. B.

Burgess-Proctor

Kubiak

Kernsmith

(2018). Factors related to Co-offending and coerced offending among female sex offenders: The role of childhood and adult trauma histories. Violence and Victims, 33(1), 53–74. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-16-00073

18.

Cortoni

Babchishin

K. M.

Rat

(2017). The proportion of sexual offenders who are female is higher than thought: A meta-analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 44(2), 145–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854816658923

19.

Davis

(1971). Elementary survey analysis. Prentice-Hall.

20.

Denov

M. S.

(2004a). The long-term effects of child sexual abuse by female perpetrators: A qualitative study of male and female victims. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(10), 1137–1156. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260504269093

21.

Denov

M. S.

(2004b). Perspectives on female sex offending: A culture of denial (welfare and society) (New ed). Taylor and Francis.

22.

Faller

K. C.

(1996). A clinical sample of women who have sexually abused children. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 4(3), 13–30. https://doi.org/10.1300/J070V04N03_02

23.

Feelgood

Hoyer

(2008). Child molester or paedophile? Sociolegal versus psychopathological classification of sexual offenders against children. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 14(1), 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600802133860

24.

Fernandez

Harris

Hanson

R. K.

Sparks

(2014). STABLE-2007 coding manual revised. Public Safety Canada.

25.

Fisher

R. A.

(1992). Statistical methods for research workers (pp. 66–70). New York: Springer.

26.

Gannon

T. A.

Rose

M. R.

Ward

(2008). A descriptive model of the offense process for female sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 20(3), 352–374. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063208322495

27.

Gerwinn

Weiß

Tenbergen

Amelung

Födisch

Pohl

Massau

Kneer

Mohnke

Kärgel

Wittfoth

Jung

Drumkova

Schiltz

Walter

Beier

K. M.

Walter

Ponseti

Schiffer

Kruger

T. H. C.

Kruger

T. H. C.

(2018). Clinical characteristics associated with paedophilia and child sex offending – differentiating sexual preference from offence status. European Psychiatry: The Journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists, 51, 74–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.02.002

28.

Giguere

Bumby

(2007). Female sex offenders. Center for Sex Offender Management. A project of the Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice. https://www.forensiccounselor.org/images/file/FemaleSexOffenders.pdf

29.

Goldhill

(2013). What was she thinking? Women who sexually offend against children - implications for probation practice. Probation Journal, 60(4), 415–424. https://doi.org/10.1177/0264550513502248

30.

Gosling

S. D.

Vazire

Srivastava

John

O. P.

(2004). Should we tcrust web-based studies? A comparative analysis of six preconceptions about internet questionnaires. The American Psychologist, 59(2), 93–104. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.59.2.93

31.

Grady

M. D.

Levenson

J. S.

Mesias

Kavanagh

Charles

(2019). “I can’t talk about that”: Stigma and fear as barriers to preventive services for minor-attracted persons. Stigma and Health, 4(4), 400–410. https://doi.org/10.1037/SAH0000154

32.

Green

A. H.

Kaplan

M. S.

(1994). Psychiatric impairment and childhood victimization experiences in female child molesters. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(7), 954–961. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199409000-00004

33.

Hall

R. C. W.

Hall

R. C. W.

(2007). A profile of pedophilia: Definition, characteristics of offenders, recidivism, treatment outcomes, and forensic issues. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 82(4), 457–471. https://doi.org/10.4065/82.4.457

34.

Hardt

Rutter

(2004). Validity of adult retrospective reports of adverse childhood experiences: Review of the evidence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 45(2), 260–273. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1469-7610.2004.00218.X

35.

Hayes

Baker

(2014). Female sex offenders and pariah femininities: Rewriting the sexual scripts. Journal of Criminology, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/414525

36.

Hermann

C. A.

McPhail

I. V.

Helmus

L. M.

Hanson

R. K.

(2017). Emotional congruence with children is associated with sexual deviancy in sexual offenders against children. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 61(12), 1311–1334. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X15620830

37.

International Business Machines Corp . (2020). IBM SPSS statistics for mac. IBM Corp.

38.

Jahnke

(2018). The stigma of pedophilia. European Psychologist, 23(2), 144–153. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000325

39.

Jahnke

Schmidt

A. F.

Geradt

Hoyer

(2015). Stigma-related stress and its correlates among men with pedophilic sexual interests. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(8), 2173–2187. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10508-015-0503-7

40.

Jespersen

A. F.

Lalumière

M. L.

Seto

M. C.

(2009). Sexual abuse history among adult sex offenders and non-sex offenders: A meta-analysis. Child Abuse and Neglect, 33(3), 179–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.07.004

41.

Johansson-Love

Fremouw

(2006). A critique of the female sexual perpetrator research. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 11(1), 12–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2005.05.001

42.

Johansson-Love

Fremouw

(2009). Female sex offenders: A controlled comparison of offender and victim/crime characteristics. Journal of Family Violence, 24(6), 367–376. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10896-009-9236-5

43.

Joinson

A. N.

(2001). Self-disclosure in computer-mediated communication: The role of self-awareness and visual anonymity. European Journal of Social Psychology, 31(2), 177–192. https://doi.org/10.1002/EJSP.36

44.

Klein

Schmidt

A. F.

Turner

Briken

(2015). Are sex drive and hypersexuality associated with pedophilic interest and child sexual abuse in a male community sample? Plos One, 10(7), e0129730. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0129730

45.

Lee

Lyvers

Edwards

M. S.

(2008). Childhood sexual abuse and substance abuse in relation to depression and coping. Journal of Substance Use, 13(5), 349–360. https://doi.org/10.1080/14659890802211077

46.

Levenson

J. S.

Willis

G. M.

Prescott

D. S.

(2015). Adverse childhood experiences in the lives of female sex offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 27(3), 258–283.https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063214544332

47.

Lewis

C. F.

Stanley

C. R.

(2000). Women accused of sexual offenses. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 18(1), 73–81.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10736578/

48.

Dwyer

R. G.

Fedoroff

J. P.

(2018). Characteristics and treatment of internet child pornography offenders. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 36(2), 216–234. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2340

49.

McPhail

I. V.

Hermann

C. A.

Nunes

K. L.

(2013). Emotional congruence with children and sexual offending against children: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 81(4), 737–749. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033248

50.

Miccio-Fonseca

L. C.

(2000). Adult and Adolescent Female Sex Offenders: Experiences Compared to Other Female and Male Sex Offenders. Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 11(3), 75–88. https://doi.org/10.1300/J056V11N03_08

51.

Miner

M. H.

Robinson

B. E. B.

Knight

R. A.

Berg

Romine

R. S.

Netland

(2010). Understanding sexual perpetration against children: Effects of attachment style, interpersonal involvement, and hypersexuality. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 22(1), 58–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063209353183

52.

Molnar

B. E.

Berkman

L. F.

Buka

S. L.

(2001). Psychopathology, childhood sexual abuse and other childhood adversities: Relative links to subsequent suicidal behaviour in the US. Psychological Medicine, 31(6), 965–977. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291701004329

53.

Murray

L. K.

Nguyen

Cohen

J. A.

(2014). Child sexual abuse. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 23(2), 321–337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2014.01.003

54.

Ó Ciardha

Ildeniz

Karoğlu

(2022). The prevalence of sexual interest in children and sexually harmful behavior self-reported by men recruited through an online crowdsourcing platform. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 34(2), 207–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/10790632211013811

55.

Perinelli

Gremigni

(2016). Use of social desirability scales in clinical psychology: A systematic review. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 72(6), 534–551. https://doi.org/10.1002/JCLP.22284

56.

Ray

J. V.

Kimonis

E. R.

Donoghue

(2010). Legal, ethical, and methodological considerations in the Internet-based study of child pornography offenders. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 28(1), 84–105. https://doi.org/10.1002/BSL.906

57.

Reavis

J. A.

Looman

Franco

K. A.

Rojas

(2013). Adverse childhood experiences and adult criminality: How long must we live before we possess our own lives? The Permanente Journal, 17(2), 44–48. https://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/12-072

58.

Sandler

J. C.

Freeman

N. J.

(2007). Typology of female sex offenders: A test of vandiver and kercher. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 19(2), 73–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/107906320701900201

59.

Saradjian

(2010). Understanding the prevalence of female-perpetrated sexual abuse and the impact of that abuse on victims. In Gannon

T. A.

Cortoni

(Eds.), Female sexual offenders: Theory, assessment and treatment (pp. 9–30). John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470666715.ch2

60.

Savoie

Quayle

Flynn

(2021). Prevalence and correlates of individuals with sexual interest in children: A systematic review. Child Abuse and Neglect, 115, 105005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105005

61.

Schäfer

Wingenfeld

Spitzer

(2014). ACE-D. Deutsche version des adverse childhood experiences questionnaire. In Richter

Brähler

Strauß

(Eds.), Diagnostische verfahren in der Sexualwissenschaft [diagnostic methods in sexology (pp. 11–15). Hogrefe.

62.

Seto

M. C.

(2008). Pedophilia and sexual offending against children: Theory, assessment, and intervention. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11639-000

63.

Seto

M. C.

Cantor

J. M.

Blanchard

(2006). Child pornography offenses are a valid diagnostic indicator of pedophilia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115(3), 610–615.https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.115.3.610

64.

Seto

M. C.

Hanson

R. K.

Babchishin

K. M.

(2011). Contact sexual offending by men with online sexual offenses. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 23(1), 124–145. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063210369013

65.

Seto

M. C.

Kjellgren

Priebe

Mossige

Svedin

C. G.

Långström

(2010). Sexual coercion experience and sexually coercive behavior: A population study of Swedish and Norwegian male youth. Child Maltreatment, 15(3), 219–228. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559510367937

66.

Strickland

S. M.

(2008). Female sex offenders: Exploring issues of personality, trauma, and cognitive distortions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23(4), 474–489. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260507312944

67.

Sullivan

(2002). The spiral of sexual abuse: A conceptual framework for understanding and illustrating the evolution of sexually abusive behaviour. Nota News, 41, 17–21. https://ncjtc-static.fvtc.edu/Resources/RS00002865.pdf

68.

Tardif

Auclair

Jacob

Carpentier

(2005). Sexual abuse perpetrated by adult and juvenile females: An ultimate attempt to resolve a conflict associated with maternal identity. Child Abuse and Neglect, 29(2), 153–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2004.05.006

69.

Tozdan

Briken

(2019). Age of onset and its correlates in men with sexual interest in children. Sexual Medicine, 7(1), 61–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ESXM.2018.10.004

70.

Tozdan

Briken

(2015). The earlier, the worse? Age of onset of sexual interest in children. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 12(7), 1602–1608. https://doi.org/10.1111/JSM.12927

71.

Tozdan

Briken

Dekker

(2019). Uncovering female child sexual offenders—needs and challenges for practice and research. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 8(3), 401. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8030401

72.

Tozdan

Briken

Schröder

(2022). Women with sexual interest in children–results from an online survey among a non-forensic female sample. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 48(5), 444–460. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2021.2005208

73.

Tozdan

Dekker

Neutze

Santtila

Briken

(2020). Sexual interest in children among women in two nonclinical and nonrepresentative online samples. Sexual Medicine, 8(2), 251–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2020.01.007

74.

Turner

Miller

H. A.

Henderson

C. E.

(2008). Latent profile analyses of offense and personality characteristics in a sample of incarcerated female sexual offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35(7), 879–894. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854808318922

75.

Vandiver

D. M.

Kercher

(2004). Offender and victim characteristics of registered female sexual offenders in Texas: A proposed typology of female sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 16(2), 121–137.https://doi.org/10.1177/107906320401600203

76.

Wason

J. M. S.

Stecher

Mander

A. P.

(2014). Correcting for multiple-testing in multi-arm trials: Is it necessary and is it done? Trials, 15(1), 364–367. https://doi.org/10.1186/1745-6215-15-364

77.

Wearden

(2010). Phi Coefficient. In Weiner

I. B.

Craighead

W. E.

(Eds.), The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology (pp. 1234–1235). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470479216.corpsy0677

78.

Whitaker

D. J.

Karl Hanson

Baker

C. K.

McMahon

P. M.

Ryan

Klein

Rice

D. D.

(2008). Risk factors for the perpetration of child sexual abuse: A review and meta-analysis. Child Abuse and Neglect, 32(5), 529–548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2007.08.005

79.

Wijkman

Bijleveld

Hendriks

(2014). Juvenile female sex offenders: Offender and offence characteristics. European Journal of Criminology, 11(1), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370813479077

80.

Wilson

R. J.

(1999). Emotional congruence in sexual offenders against children. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 11(1), 33–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/107906329901100104

81.

World Health Organization . (2006). Preventing child maltreatment: A guide to taking action and generating evidence. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43499/9241594365_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

82.

World Health Organization . (2020). International classification of diseases for mortality and morbidity statistics (11th revision). https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en

Factors Associated With Contact Sexual Offending Among a Non-Forensic Sample of Women With Sexual Interest in Children – Results From an Anonymous Online Survey

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References