**4.6 Motivation and belief systems**

Many of the previously discussed typologies examine the idea of motivation with female sexual offenders, which is something that is highly influenced by psychodynamic perspectives. A deeper and more vivid understanding of motivation could have significant impacts on the identification of offenders and treatment and intervention development. While female and male child sexual offenders are radically different, some of their specific offending belief patterns may be similar [51]. Building on this finding, when authors examined the gendered similarities and differences in implicit theory development regarding sexual offending, authors found that females shared four of the five earlier identified belief schemas associated with the phenomenon [52]. The female sexual offenders in this study identified the following belief systems: they viewed children as sexual objects; believing that children were capable of enjoying and desiring sex; they shared the dangerous world implicit theory, viewing the world as a threatening place; they believed in the uncontrollability of the world and viewed events as things that happen to people who have no ability to shape their lives; they shared the belief system that the nature of harm as related to sexual offenses was scalable in that some sexual acts are beneficial to children and do not cause harm. As mentioned previously, there was one implicit theory that the female sexual offenders did not share with the male sex offenders, and that was an entitlement, or a belief that some people were superior to others and by virtue possess a right to having their sexual desires met. Together, these findings may have significant utility in understanding the motivations behind female sexual offending [52].

Furthermore, five motivational typologies related to the motivations behind female sexual offense patterns have been developed [10]. The *Forbidden Lover* offender may superficially appear to be connected to the innocence of romantic love. However, these are typically situations where an older female has become romantically involved with a young individual. The core beliefs behind this motivation are the feelings of weariness about the responsibilities in their life. The offender typically commits the offense in the act of sexual boundary crossing, which is usually connected to the traumatic and abusive issues in the offender's childhood. The idea of consent here is difficult to mediate as it is not uncommon for some of the victims to feel complex feelings of mutual benefit, satisfaction, or even power, although these experiences could prove incredibly disruptive to their adult lives.

Continuing with the motivational typologies discussed in the previous paragraph, the authors describe the *Facilitator* as a female who assists a co-offender with the grooming of the victim, the location, and in the facilitation of the offense itself [10]. This may be motivated by fear of psychical or sexual abuse, torture, or abandonment, but this may not be the only motivation. The facilitating offender is often in proximity, if not actively engaging, due to a possible desire or willingness to participate in the offense. This suggests that the deviant sexual fantasy of the male may have become sexually stimulating for females.

Continuing, the *Instigator* is described as a female who wishes to offend against a child, adolescent, or adult and follows through on her desires alone or with the assistance of a co-offender [10]. The motivations of the female sex offender may be driven by a desire for power, revenge, dominance, or control. This offender may typically be more psychopathic by nature, and their motivation may have less to do with eroticism and more to do with sexual violence related to manipulation and exploitation of others.

The *Psychotic Offender's* motivations are based on psychosis and, specifically, are based on a variety of manifestations of hallucinations and delusions [10].

They describe the fifth category as *Munchausen by Proxy* [10]. This motivation could also be perceived as being heavily influenced by mental health conditions. However, in this case, we are talking less about psychosis and more about anxiety, obsession, or paranoia. These cases involve a parent or caretaker motivated by an irrefutable belief system that their child has been offended. Therefore, subjects the child to increasingly invasive physical and psychological examinations to find their beliefs founded, all the while disregarding the findings and advice of the professionals to whom they are entrusting their child's care.

If one may think that research on female sexual offending is scarce, then it might also be safe to say that the specificity of topics such as motivation in these offenses is non-existent. However, what we do have, as seen throughout this chapter thus far, is based primarily on case studies and small qualitative projects. With that said, the need for further research in this area is apparent.

### **5. Social perception**

One reason for the dearth of literature related to female sexual offenders may be associated with the social perception of the invitation of the phenomenon. Many authors suggest, in comparison to the readily documented nature of male sexual offending, female sexual offending has been all but ignored since females are typically viewed as caring nurturers who are incapable of such heinous, offensive, and socially unacceptable acts [45, 53–60]. This social perception could very well explain how nearly 20% of sexual offenders in our population avoid detection and or prosecution.

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

At least one author argues that our culture may typically allow for a broader range of acceptable behaviors from females [53]. This may be especially true in the case of varying levels of affection, which may have been contributing to a cultural bias rejecting the possibility of female sexual offending [53]. Others have suggested western society views females as passive, harmless and that these views have been strong enough to infiltrate our legal systems, victim-reporting practices, and professional and clinical responses dramatically contributing to the under-reporting and under-identification of female sexual offenders [61]. Additionally, these social beliefs have also permeated child protective and police services where individuals within these systems discount disclosures, allegations, and reports of child sexual abuse that involve female offenders [62]. One study pointed out that being female does significantly reduce the likelihood of incarceration for offenders convicted of sexual offenses, but sex does not appear to have any significant impact on criminal conviction rates [63]. With all of that said, victim disclosures may have just as much to do with female sexual offending as do biases within our legal systems. Many studies have documented this underreporting of cases involving female sexual offenders [24, 53, 64]. When focusing on male victims, part of the problem could be social perception. People tend to believe that sexual abuse involving a male offender and a female victim is worse than that involving a female offender and a male victim [65]. It is likely that these deep-rooted and highly perpetuated societal gender role norms affect the decision-making process of victims as they attempt to make sense of their own experiences. One author hypothesized about why male victims may choose not to disclose their sexual abuse experiences [66]. Some of these possible explanations include:

