**4.1 The impact of perpetrator gender**

Utilizing 2010 data from the National Child Abuse Neglect Data System (NCANDS), McLeod conducted secondary data analysis to investigate the impact of perpetrator gender [13]. Of the 66,765 substantiated child sexual abuse cases, 13,492, or 20.9%, had females as the primary perpetrator. In 19.9% of the confirmed cases, male perpetrators offended male victims, compared to 80.5% of the cases where male perpetrators offended female victims. In 31.8% of the substantiated cases, female perpetrators offended male victims, compared to 68.2% of the cases where female perpetrators offended against female victims. The victims of female and male perpetrators ranged in age from newborn to 18 years of age, while the female offenders were found to have a greater prevalence of victims ranging from 5 to 9 years of age. Overall, these perpetrators of child sexual abuse were four and a half times more likely to be female if the perpetrator was the child's biological parent and three times more likely to be female if the child was adopted. If the child was experiencing drug-related problems, had a disability, or had prior reports of being sexually abused, the perpetrator was also more likely to be female. If the perpetrator was a stepparent of the abused child, or if the child victim had a cognitive disability or behavioral problems, then the perpetrator was more likely to be male. With male and female perpetrators ranging in age from 18 to 70 years of age, female perpetrators tended to offend between 27 and 39 years of age, and male perpetrators tended to offend between 20 and 42 years of age [13].

Referring to the same NCANDS data set, another secondary analysis was conducted to analyze gender differences and the ways child protective and criminal justice systems responded to male and female perpetrators of child sexual abuse [14]. Compared to the male perpetrators, the female perpetrators were more likely to be involved in the child welfare system at the time of the abuse, to be receiving higher levels of mental health, substance abuse, family-centered, and economic services, and to be referred to the police following a substantiated report of child abuse. However, female perpetrators ultimately represented only 1% of the sex offenders incarcerated for their sexually abusive crimes because, after this initial referral, they were subject to farther-reaching diversion practices [14].

#### **4.2 Personal history**

A significant risk marker for the likelihood of abuse against others in adulthood is a personal history of sexual abuse [10]. When focusing on reducing the cyclical nature of this phenomenon, this is important to keep in mind. Furthermore, numerous studies have shown that female sexual offenders demonstrate a significantly higher likelihood of their victimization in childhood [15–25]. Additionally, female sexual offenders are also more likely to have experienced parental or sibling physical and emotional abuse and, compared to nonsexual offending incarcerated females, are more likely to have below a twelfth-grade education [18]. Furthermore, female sex offenders are more likely to be involved in ongoing physical victimization (i.e., domestic abuse, intimate partner sexual assault), bringing up the dual nature of this phenomenon; female sexual offenders are often both victims and victimizers [19, 23].

Female and male sex offenders are similar in that they share a typical history of sexual victimization. Still, the female sex offender is more likely to have been abused at an earlier age, been molested by multiple individuals over an extended period, been molested by both female and male sexual offenders, been sexually aroused during one of their victimizations [16]. Also, they have had the onset of their sexual offending behavior begin within five years of their first sexual

victimization [16]. Compared to a group of nonsexual offending females, sexual offending females more frequently report instances of childhood sexual abuse in their history and for a longer duration, which replicates earlier similar findings [16, 17, 20].

#### **4.3 Mental health and substance abuse**

One can imagine that the prevalence of histories of personal abuse and trauma among female sex offenders is likely to have had a significant emotional impact on them during development as children or young adults. One study reported over 70% of female sexual offenders in their sample met full diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder [26]. Another finding over one-third of their sample had a history of inpatient psychiatric hospitalization, most of which were nonparaphilic [26, 27]. More broadly, research from numerous unique disciplines (i.e., social work, criminal justice, psychiatry, and psychology) have shown that female sex offenders more often experience issues related to mental health, developmental disability, and substance use [2, 15, 19–22, 25, 28–33].

The search for answers related to what kinds of mental health issues female sexual offenders may specifically face is a relatively new pursuit; however, a handful of studies have helped lead the way for future research. In one study, solo-offending female sexual offenders, those who commit offenses on children without the participation, influence, or coercion of another offender, were more likely to have diagnosable mental health and substance abuse disorders, and those who co-offended were more likely to have personality disorders [31]. Interestingly, no statistical difference was found between female sexual offender cohorts (solooffender or co-offender) when diagnoses were split into substance abuse disorders and psychotic disorders [28]. Other studies have shown some diagnoses associated with female sexual offenders may include developmental disability, drug and alcohol abuse, anxiety, and depression [2, 18, 19, 28, 29, 34]. Specifically, another author found that up to 22% of their female sexual offender sample to have some sort of developmental disability, and at the time in 1995 would have met the DSM diagnostic criteria for at least mild mental retardation [2]. Referring to diagnoses, Borderline Personality Disorder appears to be one most mentioned in the female sex offender literature. Among a sample of female sexual offenders, Borderline Personality Disorder is significantly associated with personal victimization histories [15].

Focusing on correlations like the one between Borderline Personality Disorder and child abuse, neuroscience has begun to elucidate the connection between traumatic events and the links and attachments individuals make later in their life. A few studies have detailed the impact of these types of events on neurodevelopment, and the debilitating effects childhood trauma can have on developing appropriate behaviors and connections. These studies suggest childhood trauma can cause a significant physical impact on the brain, altering the typical development of neuropathways, which can lead to substantial disturbances for individuals [35, 36]. Childhood trauma is almost exclusively how they can or cannot develop healthy and appropriate relationships, personal positive mental health, and appropriate boundaries with others [35, 36].

#### **4.4 Offense patterns**

While the literature suggests that female sex offenders are not a homogenous group, looking for similarities in offense patterns could prove helpful when analyzing large amounts of data [22, 37]. Compared to male sexual offenders, multiple

#### *Female Offenders in Child Sexual Abuse DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98499*

studies suggest that female sex offenders are more likely to use higher levels of coercion, which may indicate a higher level of emotional or intellectual manipulation connected to their approach [22, 24]. However, this does not necessarily mean that these female sexual offenders believe what they are doing is moral or right. According to at least one author, their decision-making process did not appear to be affected by cognitive distortions about the offense, unlike male sexual offenders [37].

Moreover, female sexual offenders who offend by themselves are more likely to have a single victim compared to those who act with another offender who is more likely to have multiple victims, to have both female and male victims, to be related to the victim, and to have a history of nonsexual offenses [38]. With that said, very few female sexual offenders seem to be coerced into their offending behavior or motivated by fear related to a co-offender [39].

One must also have caution when putting too much weight on a single study related to recidivism, which is difficult to measure when relying solely on data reported by the criminal justice system. For example, one author suggested that recidivism related to female sexual offending may be closer to 28% [40]. This is substantially more than the recidivism rate of 17% of female sexual offenders charged with subsequent sexual offenses after the initial primary offense [40].

Highly documented and accepted within the female sex offender literature, research has repeatedly shown that female sex offenders are more likely than male sexual offenders to offend their biological children, close relatives, and children in their care [19, 24, 25, 33, 41]. One apparent absence in the literature relates to what degree access to children may place into the dynamics of female sexual offenders and their victims and whether these differences would still hold true if male sexual offenders were in consistent caregiving roles.

Another highly documented finding in the female sex offender literature is the lack of discrimination when it comes to victim gender, with numerous studies suggesting that female sex offenders are far less discriminant about victim gender compared to male sex offenders who tend to have an exclusive victim gender preference, typically female [27, 41–43]. Referring to these same studies, some suggested their female sexual offender samples may have a slight inclination toward male victims; however, others noted that female sex offenders in their sample were more likely to have male victims [27, 41–43]. Together, these studies still found that most female sexual offenders in their samples had both male and female victims [27, 41–43].

#### **4.5 Empirical classifications and typologies**

While the literature suggests the little, we do know about female sexual offenders do not fit into the same typologies as male sexual offenders, many have set out over the past thirty years to categorize female sexual offenders and their behavioral types [44]. Below you will find a detailed list containing some of the most popular typologies across time and some more modern approaches, which is organized by whether the typology is a psychodynamic or behaviorally influenced theoretical position and organized chronologically after that.
